Naruto Son of Iroh: Book of Water
by FrostyDaHomeboy
Summary: Naruto is adopted by the great Dragon of the West after his failed attempt to take Ba Sing Se for the Fire Nation. What will the impact of Naruto being apart of a more realistic Hundred Years War in the Avatar world be?/ Naru/Ty Canon Pairings. Smarter than anime Naruto. World Of Avatar the Last Airbender. M for Gore, crude humor, crude language, and some sexual themes-M for safety
1. Prologue: Carry On My Wayward Son

Prologue: Carry On My Wayward Son

Two men stood in a field looking at each other with heated glares as the sounds of chaos reached them over the distance. The man in a black cloak had a yellow mask with black splotches streaked horizontally across its porcelain surface. There was a single hole over the spot where his right eye was, revealing a red eye with three tomoe circling lazily around the pupil. The other man who stood some distance away had unruly blond hair and cerulean blue eyes that glared daggers into the other man. Across his forehead, holding back his hair, was a headband with a metal plate engraved with an open spiral with an almost triangular point.

He was tall and sported a white trench coat with red flames at the bottom and along its spine were the Kanji for 'Fourth Hokage'. Under that was a green flak jacket with many pouches and beneath that was a navy-blue turtleneck shirt. He wore blue pants with a kunai holster on his right thigh and black Shinobi sandals with bandages wrapping up his ankles to lower calf. The full moon cast an eerie glow on the green field as the man in the black cloak hunched over with what appeared to be a very injured back and left arm, his voice carrying a foreboding edge as he spoke.

"You managed to injure me and separate me from the Kyuubi, however, the Nine Tails will be mine again!" The man started to be sucked into his eye however as he disappeared he left a few words for the blond to echo through the field "I'm going to take over the world…. And there are so many ways to go about doing that, Minato."

By the end of his monologue he had vanished but Minato knew this would not be the last time the masked man would try to harm Konoha. '_With a tone like that he's not kidding around.'_

Before his thoughts could go any further another explosion sounded miles away, bringing the situation in the village back to the forefront of his mind. In a flash of yellow light he transported himself to the middle of the battle field known as the wreckage of the village. Before the man was a giant reddish orange fox with nine flailing tails. Its fur stood on end as it looked down to see the blond man in front of him, its demonic red slitted eyes glaring death at the Leaf Shinobi.

The moment he appeared he went through many hand signs and with a loud voice called out "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

With that a large billow of smoke appeared over the area as Minato Namikaze stood upon the great toad boss Gamabunta. He was a giant rusty red toad with a blue happi vest over his back with the kanji for 'gama' or toad on his back. In his mouth was a long brown kiseru pipe as well as a scar over his left eye from some past battle. The frog puffed out a large breath of smoke before growling out.

"And I thought I was gonna have a nice night with me and my pipe all by myself and no worries, but here we are, in the worst of all situations dealing with an enraged Kyuubi."

"I'm sorry Gamabunta but as you can see this is an emergency. I need your help to push him out of the village so we can seal him once again." Apologized Minato with no hint of emotion in his voice as he realized already what a horrible thing he must do.

"Well then what are we waiting for." With that the frog boss leapt forward into the fray and tackled the fox out of the village.

"Hold him down Gamabunta! I'm gonna Hiraishin us away from the village!" Yelled Minato as he held up one of the three pronged kunai he was known for.

"Whatever you have planned you better hurry up! It's hard to hold down the most powerful being in the world for any amount of time"

The fox yowled in anger as he already worked to push off the giant toad from his back. Then in a massive flash of yellow the toad, fox, and man vanished only to reappear in a clearing a few miles away. Again Minato flashed away but this time returned a distance away from the fox with a woman and newborn child.

The woman had long red hair that fell to the middle of her back and violet eyes that showed exhaustion and pain. She wore a white high collared sleeveless blouse with a loose fitting green dress that almost looked like an apron on her. She also sported a dark blue bracelet on her left wrist and lavender shinobi sandals on her feet. In her arms swaddled in an orange blanket was a newborn child with spiky blond hair, tightly closed eyes, a set of three whisker like birthmarks on each cheek.

The woman was Kushina Uzumaki and her son Naruto Uzumaki was the baby wrapped in his mother's arms. She looked around and realized they were in a clearing away from the village with the Kyuubi being restrained by a struggling Gamabunta.

"Minato, what is this? What are you doing?" asked an emotionally distraught Kushina.

"I'm going to seal the Nine Tailed Fox…into Naruto" he replied in a somber tone that spoke of despair.

"No! You can't do that! Not to our son!" Kushina yelled desperate to save her son from that horrible fate.

"Then who?! How can I ask someone to give up their child to seal the beast when I am not willing to do it to my own son?!" Minato yelled back equally distraught.

"Minato! Hurry up and do what you're planning to do because I don't know how much longer I can hold him down!" called out Gamabunta as he slashed down with his tanto to fight off the thrashing tails of the fox.

"Minato I have a better idea," as she said this glowing spiked chakra chains bust forth from Kushina's back and tied down the fox while it was distracted with Gamabunta. The chains took care of the giant chakra construct just in time as the Kyuubi bashed the giant toad off of him causing Gamabunta to be forcibly returned to Mount Myōboku. "I am already dying; I will reseal the Kyuubi back into my body and pull him with me to the afterlife. That will give you time to prepare so you can seal him when he reforms…. If I have one regret it would only be that I would not get to see Naruto grow up." She coughed her strength already leaving her body as she looked down at the sleeping baby boy in her arms.

"Kushina there is no need for you to die to kill the Nine Tails, save your chakra for your reunion with Naruto," Minato said looking down at the ground, "I'm going to use the Reaper Death Seal to seal half of the Kyuubi's chakra in me and the other half I will seal in Naruto the rest of Kyuubi's chakra as, well as yours and mine. The Kyuubi is just too powerful to be completely sealed away and strategically it is unwise."

"That doesn't make sense! Why must you sacrifice yourself when I am already going to die! Why should Naruto be forced to grow up with no parents when you can live and be there for him! You can't just sacrifice yourself just for my happiness! We-"

"Because the masked man will be back to cause more chaos again and try to destroy the world! Because it's the father's duty to sacrifice his life for his children and it's our duty to believe in Naruto, that he can stop him!" Kushina's words hitched in her throat as she heard this and Minato continued even as tears fell down each parent's faces, "I'm not just doing this for your happiness but also for Naruto's, because there are some things that I can't teach or tell him that only you can as his mother!"

It was upon this scene that an older man by the name of Hiruzen Sarutobi ran to after seeing the toad boss Gamabunta disappear, followed by a few other Leaf Shinobi. Sarutobi tried to run up and assist Minato but Kushina's chakra chains had formed a barrier to keep Kyuubi in and consequently keep everyone else out.

Minato came close to Naruto and Kushina as he summoned a ritual alter to the area and then placed Naruto on top of the stand. Then Minato began to go through a long series of hand signs; seeing this the Kyuubi lashed out with its claws trying to kill the future Jinchuuriki before he could be sealed again. Minato, still going through hand signs, jumped in front of the incoming claw as did Kushina to prevent their son from being impaled. This was when the key mistake happened.

When Minato jumped in front of the incoming claw he messed up the final two hand signs without realizing it, but in his last ditch effort to save everyone he did the final hand seal and said one word, "Fuin!"

A blast of blinding white light burst forth from the middle of the family as Minato and Kushina were stabbed through on the now mostly bloodied claw of the Kyuubi no Yoko. The mother and father pulled with all of their strength and with the remaining power of the chakra chains they stopped the imminent threat of death just inches away from the boy as a drop of crimson landed on the boy's chest. Then the world froze in place.

Minato blinked and looked down to see his wife's face stopped in a moment of excruciating pain and realized she was not moving. Growing worried that Kushina had passed he tried to shake her but the realized that no matter how hard he tried to shake her, she would not budge from her position. What started to worry Minato even more was that he felt no pain, not that he was complaining, but did that mean he was dead? That was when Minato looked down the length of the claw and noticed a drop of blood simply hanging in midair right above his son's chest. '_Just what is going on here? I didn't know that the Reaper Death Seal stopped time to make the contract, but then again I guess no one has lived long enough to give details on this sort of thing but-'_

"The contract has been made." Said a surprisingly gentle female voice, as Minato whipped his head around looking for the source of the voice.

"What trick is this Shinigami? Why have you frozen everyone in time except me?" Asked a very bewildered Yondaime Hokage.

"Now what would my brother have anything to with what's going on right now? Tut, tut, tut, I thought your sensei Jiraiya would have taught you to know better than to experiment with jutsu in the middle of a battle." At that moment another flash of light blinded Minato; even when he opened his eyes he winced from the intense white rays emanating from apparently all around him. When it finally dies down Minato was shocked to see quite possibly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, not that he would ever allow Kushina to know that. However he immediately noticed that she was not human, as evidenced by the fact she was mostly translucent.

She had long flowing white hair that reached all the way down her body, yet stopped millimetres from the floor. The plain white robe that covered her torso was simple but incredibly elegant, further enhanced by the silver chain hanging around her neck. It was her eyes that most captivated the impaled blonde though; they shone with an ethereal silver light that enraptured him, forcing him not to look away as she walked towards him, bare feet brushing against the grass. Despite how crazy it seemed Minato knew there was only one entity this being could be.

"Well this is quiet the predicament you got yourself into now isn't Minato?" she lightly joked despite the dire situation.

"Ka-Kami-sama?!" said Minato in disbelief.

"The one and only." She said with a nod.

"But why are you here? I did the Reaper Death Seal so I thought the Shinigami would be here, not you."

"Wrong. You thought you did the Reaper Death Seal; what you actually did was mess up two hand signs earlier and did the Devine Displacement Seal which I'm afraid you are not going to like very much." Sighed Kami in a sad tone.

"What am I not going to like?" asked Minato in a voice fearing the worst for his family and village.

"Before we get to that, let's get your beloved in on the conversation shall we?" said the lord over all. Kami proceeded to walk over and touch Kushina and Naruto, both instantly began to stir. Kushina groaned out the pain she had felt earlier, but like Minato, the pain was now gone. She blinked, looked around and saw the Goddess standing before her, giving her a comforting smile.

"Kami-sama? What is-"

"Kushina, don't worry we aren't dead, at least not yet." Interrupted Minato as he looked at her.

"But what is going on Minato? Why is everything frozen and why on earth is Kami-sama herself here?" asked the red head frantically.

"Allow me to explain Kushina," Kami said as she sat down on the grass, "In simple terms, your husband here messed up the Reaper Death Seal hand signs and instead did an entirely different jutsu called the Devine Displacement Seal which, as I already said to Minato, I don't think you are going to like it very much."

"What aren't we going to like very much about the jutsu?" asked Minato with worry.

"Well, let me explain what this jutsu does first." Answered the goddess, "The moment the Jutsu was activated all that you wanted to have happen was put into a contract with me, and let me say what you are asking for is a lot. From sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto, to even sealing your chakras into him so that you may speak to your son again in the future but in exchange I take the amount of your life force that I deem necessary for what you've asked, and then your soul is judged under the highest scrutiny. If you are deemed unworthy of what I have agreed to give you, then you and those involved are sent straight to Hell, but if you are worthy then you get what you wish and when you die in this world you will be put through purgatory first then sent to your proper place in the afterlife. It's a huge gamble to begin with but that's not the part you're not going to like. This only makes an explanation of the 'divine' part of the jutsu." She paused as she heard the couple take a breath, "Now since you are talking to me right now that means that your soul passed Minato, so congratulations on that part. Now for the bad news, once the seal is finished the person or object is sent into another dimension for a time. For how long I am not sure, but I can at least guarantee Naruto will return here in Konoha one day, after all, I can't have the child of prophecy disappear forever now can I?"

Minato once again looked down at Naruto this time lost in thought, '_So I was right he is the child of prophecy.'_

"But who will take care of him? Who will teach him? How will he know of us if this happens?" cried Kushina as fresh tears began to streak down her face.

Kami could only look at them in sadness and say "These are the terms of the contract, this may sound harsh but if you ask me this is a better alternative than the Shiki Fuin. I will allow you some time to speak with your son, for it shall be your last for a very long time."

The parents looked at each other and despite the situation Kushina laughed a hollow laugh, "This is the first time I have ever lost an argument with you, that's how I know you must be serious."

"Thanks Kushina." Said the blonde with a small smile. Rubbing the blood off of his mouth Minato summoned the frog Gamatora. The frog looked around in shock and fear before yelling, "Yondaime what are you doing?! Why is the Kyuubi out?!"

"Gamatora, I don't have much time, I'm giving you the seal key to the Kyuubi. When this is done I want you to store yourself in Jiraiya right away, okay?" the frog nodded as Minato Made the necessary markings for the key on the living frog scroll.

"Alright I have the key, I will go to Jiraiya now." After those words the summon disappeared.

Minato looked back at Naruto from behind Kushina and said, "I don't know how much longer this jutsu is going to last so we better say what we have to now."

Kushina gave a look of love and longing to Naruto, "Naruto, don't be a picky eater, so grow big and strong. Take a bath every day and keep warm. Don't stay up late…get…enough sleep…and make friends…you don't need a lot…but…just a few friends…you can really trust. And though I was never good at it myself…study hard and practice your ninjutsu…but everyone has things they're good at and things they're not…so if you have a hard time…don't let it get you down…respect your senseis and senpais at the academy…"

Kushina closed her eyes and paused before continuing, " Oh, and one more thing…about the three ninja vices…be especially careful with lending and borrowing money…and save the money you earn…don't drink till you are old enough to…and drinking too much is bad for you so…take it easy…and as for women…I'm a woman so I don't really understand but…you will find yourself interested in women…but just don't fall for a strange one…find a woman like your mom…and speaking of vices…one more thing…watch out for Jiraiya-sensei…"

Minato couldn't help but painfully laugh at that last statement as Kushina continued, "Naruto…you will face many painful times, hard times…but just be yourself…and have your dreams…and the confidence to make those dreams come true..!"

The tears began to fall faster as Kushina cried, "I really, really, really, really, wish I could be there…to teach you so many things…I really wish I could be with you longer…I love you…"

The area went silent. Everyone had tears coming down their faces, even Kami. Then Kushina spoke again, "Minato, I'm sorry for talking so much."

"No…It's all right…Naruto…as your father…I'll just second…everything your talkative mother said..." Minato turned his head towards Kami, "Can I ask one more thing of you Kami-sama? Would you please take one of my kunai…and engrave it with Naruto's name…so that no matter where he…ends up…he will always know his name?"

Kami stood up from the ground and walked over to Minato. She slowly reached for his kunai holster and pulled out one of the legendary tri-pronged weapons with a Hiraishin seal on it. She held it in between her hands and the kunai glowed momentarily while on the side opposite of the seal the kanji for Naruto Uzumaki appeared.

Kami looked at the engraving and thought to herself, '_He will be a spiralling maelstrom no matter where he goes.' _She then walked towards the infant and placed the kunai amidst the bundle making sure it would not stab him. She watched for a few seconds as the baby blonde's chest rose and fell. She turned her head to the tiring lovers and said the final words, "Minato, it is time."

Minato nodded his head in understanding; he started the seal now it was time for him to finish it. "Divine Displacement Jutsu: Hakke Fuin!"

Hiruzen removed his arm now that the blinding light was gone as quick as it came. The chakra chain barrier had come down and that was all the Sandaime needed to dash forward to the scene. Upon the blood soaked earth were Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, their bodies next to each other in a final loving embrace, looking to the spot where Naruto lay now crying into the night time air. The Kyuubi had vanished into the now noticeable seal on the baby's stomach, but upon closer inspection of the child the former Hokage noticed on the boy's hand was another seal in the appearance of the Uzumaki swirl. Soon both seals faded as the desired effects finally took place in hiding the designs on the baby's body.

The old man made a move to pick up the bundle but was stopped by a blue barrier surrounding the boy. Hiruzen was shocked even further when Naruto began to float into the air on his own and a dark purple vortex opened up a few feet away from the boy and he glided towards it.

Doing the only thing he could think of, Hiruzen ran at the swirling energy and smashed Enma, the bo staff, into the vortex. However, before it could make contact the barrier once again sprang up as Naruto continued to move towards the rift in dimensions. The old man could only watch in horror as the legacy of two of his greatest shinobi disappeared into the purple void, leaving the elder in a barren and blood soaked field wondering what had just happened.

_WATER_

The night was clear and the full moon shone in the spirit influenced world. In a quiet town ten miles from the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se, or the "Impenetrable City", an elderly lady was on a late night stroll. She was plagued with restlessness this night and thought a midnight walk would help her rest more peacefully. She had a bit of a hunch in her back as she slowly made her way through the dormant town with her candle-lit lamp. The fire light illuminated her wrinkled face to reveal grey hair wrapped up in a tight bun with two bangs hanging down the sides of her face. She had sun spots scattered on her face and brown eyes that shone despite her age. She wore a simple light brown cloak and a green ribbon to help hold her bun in place.

Her name was Chiyo but everyone called her Lady Chiyo by the way she carried herself with an air of command, and the fact that she ran one of the few orphanages in the Earth Kingdom made her a respectable woman in the community's eyes. This was a no nonsense woman with little belief in the supernatural or as the people of this world called them 'spirits'. Little did she know that she was gonna get a little does of faith tonight underneath the full moon.

She had just made it to the outskirts of town and was about to turn back around when a flash of white light sparked into existence in front of the elderly woman. When she was done blinking the spots out of her eyes she saw a purple portal open up before her. She gasped as out of the spiraling vortex came an orange bundle of cloth with the distinct wail of a baby crying.

Then as fast as it had come the portal vanished and all that was left was the baby crying into the cool night air. Lady Chiyo stared, her mouth agape, as she stood stock still. She had never believed in the 'ludicrous' stories of spirits seeing them as simply fairy tales to get kids to behave, which some stories she had used to do just that. But now something that she simply could not explain just happened, and there was only one thought she could think now- _'__Spirits!'_

Then she had another thought, what if she just left and pretended this had never happened. She could go back to her home and just do as she always would instead of having to look after what she could only be described as a spirit baby. A chill suddenly came over the widow as she turned her head about thinking something was watching her in the dark. It felt as if a spirit was right next to her and if she didn't take the baby her life might end right then and there.

Invisible to the older woman, Kami stood behind her and gazed at her and made sure she took in the boy…or she would pay the price. The goddess watched as the orphanage owner walked up and looked at the baby and a frown spread across her wrinkled face.

There was no doubt to her anymore now that there were spirits in this world. Chiyo could only assume now that this child was touched by spirits or born of them, for the boy had whisker marks on the sides of his cheeks and... yellow hair? What was going on? She looked a little more closely at the bundle and noticed a malformation in the blanket. She unwrapped it a little to find the strangest dagger she had ever seen. It was a short three pronged blade with a uniform, bandage-wrapped handle imprinted with kanji. On the side was a weird marking that looked like a mess of long forgotten writing and on the other side was a beautifully carved name that read-

_'Naruto Uzumaki, what a strange name'_she thought as she looked from the dagger to the blond boy.

She slowly made her way back to the orphanage and once inside laid down Naruto in one of the cribs. She looked back at the crib before leaving and made a vow in her head that only she and the spirits would know. '_This is too ill an omen for me. The moment I see trouble with him or any other strange thing, he is gone. I will not harbor a child that may be possessed by spirits in my household.'_She turned her back and walked up stairs to her bed and finally fell into a fitful slumber.

A/N 7/18/2013:Sorry if you were expecting a new chapter from this update but don't worry the new chapter will be up in a few days. It's just this brain child happened and I had to add it to my story. Please Read and review and give me your thoughts on the prologue as I am always hoping to review. Flames will be used to power up my fire jutsu to new levels as I have been hoping to learn how to master my secondary chakra affinity. Also on another note I have a Beta now and have got to say I feel honored that a writer of his caliber would be willing to help me out. His name is Digitize27 and if you haven't heard of him I highly recommend reading his stories for they are quite original in my eyes and if you are in for a good long read he has your fix, (I recommend his Naruto/Tayuya:Red and Yellow Makesstory as well as his Anko/Naruto fic:Small Changes). And before you shake your head at a Naruto/Tayuya fic let me just say you haven't seen a fic like this before. Anyways stay interesting and weird because normal is boring, respect your elders for you never know when you may lose them, and always know that nothing is set in stone in this world.

Stay Frosty my readers.

*End Transmission*


	2. Water 1: Enter Iroh

14

**A/N: Before you begin reading just realize this fic is rated M for graphic violence, humor, crude language, sexual themes, and disturbing images. So before anyone can complain about future chapters being more than what they bargained for. I can just say I told you in advance in the first chapter and that you were properly warned.**

******Oh and before I forget I suppose I have to include a disclaimer but I'm not sure why seeing as this is a fanfiction site. Well here it goes. This story is a fan based parody and in no means reflects the viewpoints or ideals of Nickelodeon, Shonen Jump, Viz Media, or Masakishimoto. All characters are property of Nickelodeon, Shonen Jump, Viz Media, and Masakishimoto. I do not own any of the characters just the ideas for my version of a story.******

** On with the story then!**

Ch.1 Enter Iroh

A barefoot boy with cerulean blue eyes peeked from an alleyway that he was hiding in. His dirty white t-shirt hung from his thin frame the same went for his baggy black shorts he wore as he made sure the scene was safe for him to go back to his "home" a large maple tree on the outskirts of town. This tan 8 year old boy would look like any other "street rat" in one of the villages surrounding Ba Sing Se, except he had vibrant blonde hair unseen of in this world and three distinct scars on each side of his face almost as if to give him the appearance of whiskers there. He looked warily as he dashed across the dirt road to another adjacent alley. He gazed in fear at the smoke he could see billowing up over the horizon. The earthen toned town had all its windows and doors closed on this autumn day, it would be odd if it weren't for the fact that it had been this way for the last 2 years.

For 2 years the legendary Dragon of the West had laid siege to the capital of the Earth Kingdom. During that time the Fire Nation soldiers had to "acquire" supplies from the neighboring villages and towns that bordered Ba Sing Se's countryside.

This was the reason why the town was on edge. They could hear the sound of soldiers marching in their direction from the capitol towards the town. Everyone was braced for a raiding party to attack o0nce again, they had resisted the first few times, but after that the loss of loved ones was too much to continue, and it only made it worse if they did.

The reason the young boy was scared was because this time he had nowhere to go for the raid. The soldiers were cruel to whom ever they got there hands on. So the eight year old child could do the only thing left and that was to move from hiding place to hiding place in hopes of not being discovered. And being homeless was because of a single isolated incident.

_They just had to kick me out for standing up for myself. I mean isn't that a little extreme to put a kid through? And now with all of the rumors going around no one will help me. What did I do wrong?! I just hit him so he would stop hitting me! It's not my fault that the teme went down so quickly. _So thought Naruto as he continued on his way to a safer location.

*Flashback around 6 months ago*

It was early spring that day in the orphanage when the incident occurred. The place was better maintained than one would think for a non-government run facility that only took donations of money and time. The kids were fed enough to get by but it was still three meals a day. When the kids weren't playing or getting into trouble with the caretakers they would be doing chores to help the place look better such as sweeping the floorboards, dusting the rafters, and doing odd jobs to bring money for the orphanage.

There were about seven kids in all but they never really hit off with each other for some odd reason. One would think that the common occurrence of being orphaned by the Fire Nation would help with bonds but no the one thing that all the orphans had in common was this, picking on Naruto.

Naruto had been in Lady Chiyo's care as long as he could remember. Thus the other kids would take out their frustrations and anger on him seeing as he was in a sense an outcast. The prankster had been at the orphanage since a few days after his birth till now, and that is what made him strange. You would think people would jump at the opportunity to adopt an infant, especially if they had lost their own to fill the void or if they simply couldn't have children, but that was not the case for baby Naruto. Something about him just pushed others away from adopting him as an infant and as a young child. Maybe it was the oddity of his bright blond hair, or the birthmarks on his cheeks that looked too much like whiskers, no none seemed to know and thus his predicament.

"Awh looks likes there's still no one one to love Cat-Face." sneered a boy with black hair and brown eyes. "Shut up you Teme, no one looked at you either." retorted Naruto as the rest of the orphans watched as the five year old girl named Akira walked away with her new parents.

"Yeah well at least I've only been here for a year , I'm not unloveable like you." Countered the boy while he proceeded to shove the blonde haired child. "Well if the trend of how long you've been here continues, I'd say that you're on your way to being unlovable yourself jerk!" Shoved back Naruto.

"You take that back!"

"Make me!"

The brown haired boy lunged and tackled Naruto to the ground but Naruto quickly kicked him off and recovered in time to see the boy charging in with a punch cocked back and ready to fire. Naruto ducked beneath the blow and returned fire. The boy stumbled back after taking the shot to the stomach but he wasn't done trying to beat down the outcast. The other 11 year old boy charged again but this time feigned a left punch and quickly came in with a right hook. Naruto was knocked to the ground and held his soon to be bruised chin.

"You should just go find those firebenders and ask them to kill you, you whisker faced freak! Its obvious that no one here likes you and that no one is ever going to love you! It would save us all the bother of having to deal with you everyday!" Yelled the boy with malice laced in his voice.

Naruto slowly go up, his eyes not leaving the ground. His body seemed to shake as he heard the boy's cruel words that hurt more than any blow could.

"I mean you must be the worst possible person to exist. You killed your mother through childbirth, your father couldn't bare to be near you so you ended up here, and to top it off, you're such a freak that you've been up for adoption all your life and probably will be until you are kicked out of here when you're 16! You're just-"

The boy froze as he felt a wave of hate wash over him from Naruto. He finally got a good look at "The Freak" and noted the veins bulging on his tight clenched fists but that's not what scared him. What frightened him was that the blond's eyes had changed from the bright cerulean blue eyes to feral crimson red ones with pupils transformed into slits. The whisker marks on his face seemed more prevalent than they were before and his hair had gained an orange-red tint to his blond hair. But maybe the most startling was his shadow. It was no longer moving, or even shaped for that matter, like a normal shadow. It had split into nine _~ Tails?! Just what the hell is this Freak! ~ _

Naruto slammed into the boy with a speed none in the orphanage had seen before and he was sent flying into the opposing wall with enough force to crack the wood. The boy looked up in pure shock and fear as he saw Naruto looming over him eyes shifting from red to ice blue and back to feral crimson again. His eyes held the pain of loneliness and the rage of hatred at the same time conflicting with one another as Naruto glared at the boy slowly losing consciousness on the floor.

"You don't know anything about me or my parents so shut up baka! You don't know anything about me!" Screamed Naruto as he raised his fist to strike the boy again-

"NARUTO!"

Naruto froze where he was and slowly turned to see Lady Chiyo standing in the doorway looking at Naruto in fear. He finally took the time to look observe the room and realized that the other orphans were huddled in the corner looking truly scared for their lives, terror evident in their eyes. With those images of fear in his head Naruto's anger faded and his are lowered to his side. His irises changed back to the their usual cerulean as he calmed down and he turned to the elderly caretaker.

"I'm sorry... So what is my punishment going to be?" said Naruto in a remorseful tone. It took Lady Chiyo a few minutes for her to regain her voice and when she did it was barely audible, just above a whisper.

"...get out..."

"What?" said Naruto not being able to hear her.

"Leave. You are no longer welcome here. Just get out of here." she said just a little bit louder.

Naruto just stood there dumbstruck. His mind and body went numb.

"But-"

"LEAVE."

Naruto made for the exit in a daze. He felt as if he was in a bad dream but he wasn't waking up. He just started running until he was a good ways on the road out of town he ran to a nearby maple tree and sank to the ground. He began to cry. He kept crying. He was truly alone now. The tone in her voice was clear, he was to never come back. Naruto had lost what was his home and his world.

_Maybe I really am unlovable- _So thought Naruto as he cried himself to sleep under the tree's embrace.

Naruto was currently hiding behind an empty fruit vender stand. The smoke had grown closer as the day went on. Naruto was surprised that the bataleon was not here yet.

_I'm not complaining but I wonder what's taking them so long to get here. I mean its only 20 guys usually so what gives? The other times they were here by a little after noon, but its almost sunset now._

Then there was a sound slowly growing in the distance. It was just background noise earlier but now it was more distinct. It was rhythmic in nature which was unusual for the quiet town. It continued to grow louder and the smoke on the horizon only grew larger in billows. It was then that the truth dawned on Naruto.

_Its not just a bataleon... Its the whole damn army! Oh no, this is so bad! I'm in trouble now thats for sure. This cart won't hide me from an entire army. I just hope that they won't beat me for their amusement again. That last time was awful. Even if I was better by the next morning that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt when it happens. Ugh..._

Naruto was pulled out of his thoughts when the sounds of a massive army was upon him. He peeked from his hiding place to see the armies ranks were steadily marching through the town square. They were dressed in the standard Fire Nation army garbs. They consisted of black-red colours like that of a smoldering piece of coal as it dies in a fire. They had armoured shoulder and chest plates that ended in a tunic style of dress from the waist down. The men wore grey long-sleeve shirts and pants under the armour and had black bracers and boots to match as well. The standard infantry had a dark red helmets that brown cloth covering the back and sides of their necks, meanwhile the firebenders had black helmets with red spikes going up the sides of the helmet. Black cloth covered their necks while what looked to be a skulls face served as the mask covering the benders' faces from view.

Overall it was an intimidating sight to behold. By Naruto's reckoning they were over a thousand strong and looked worn out from fighting and marching. The soldiers continued to move along until the middle of the army came into the town square. It was then that the elite guards of the Fire Nation came into view dressed in crimson and gold versions of the firebenders outfits. The differences though were that the Elite Guards' masks were not as much resembling a skull and that they had five spikes on their helmets as opposed to the firebenders having four. Each Elite Guard was riding a strange grey beast with three horns. Two of the black horns would point downwards while the one above its nose pointed upward giving it a dangerous air about it. These war beasts of burden had beady eyes that would look around from underneath the the red plated armour on top of its head.

But the most striking figure of the army traveled on another of these beasts in the middle of the honor guard. If Naruto had to guess he would assume that this man was the commanding general of these forces. But what struck a strange cord in Naruto was how the man looked so different from what he expected of a Fire Nation general to be.

He was about 5'6" in stature had a bit of a pot bellied appearance. The general had golden-red eyes like most natives of the Fire Nation do and had grey hair in a ponytail-bun showing noble status at least as well as a grey beard coming from his wrinkled face. He seemed to have a kind face but Naruto could not really tell from his angled view. However this kind face bore a haggard expression for some reason, not the fierce cruel one you would come to expect from such a fearsome army under a terribly brutal reign. He wore the commanding officers robes and armour but donned them with a subtle air of authority. Naruto guessed that if the man were in a better mood he would probably act like some of the old men he had seen in the restaurants and tea shops playing Pai Sho and simply relaxing the day away. This general threw off all of Naruto's previous schemas of how the Fire Nation soldiers and ranked officers would be like and thus he was caught staring at the man in charge by one of the Elite Guards who quickly jumped off of his three horned beast and dragged Naruto over to his leader.

Normally Naruto would have tried to either fight the man dragging him away to an uncertain fate or would have attempted to escape and flee the area, but in this case it would have sealed his fate no matter what he did. If he tried to escape they would think him a threat and even if he did he would eventually be capture by one of the hundreds of soldiers in the area and then be brought before their leader on even worse terms. If he were to fight it would only lead to his certain death due to the same circumstances, so he decided to just go with it because at least this way he might live.

"Sir, I caught this boy spying on our forces from behind the vendor's stand." The Elite Guard stated, his voice betraying no emotion simply waiting for his orders.

"Hmmm ... Commander." called the general.

"Yes, General Iroh?" Answered one of the soldiers marching in rank with the majority of the other warriors, as he ran up to receive his orders.

"Tell the men to stop and set up camp for the night. I would rather not travel through the night and risk being ambushed when we are already tired from this days forced march. For one cannot fight off the enemy if he is already dead on his feet from exhaustion."

"Hai!" responded the commander, "Company, Halt! Make camp for the night! We head out at first light tomorrow to continue our trek so get a good nights rest!" Shouted the officer. Echoes of his command could be heard coming from others as they relayed the message though the advanced and delayed ranks of the army.

General Iroh, satisfied with his orders, got off of his mount and began to unpack his things for the night with help of a few soldiers who accompanied them.

"Um...Sir?" questioned the man holding Naruto.

"Yes?" asked the general not looking up from his task as he proceeded to continue unpacking.

"What do you want me to do with the boy here?"

At this the greyed man looked up to get a good look at the malnourished boy in front of him. He looked at the boy and was surprised to see such a shock of blond hair for it was none he had ever seen. He gave the boy a better look and noted that he was probably homeless and his heart pained for the child in front of him.

"Let him be Lee. He is obviously just a child that was observing our congregation go by, am I correct young one?" Iroh said while addressing Naruto.

"That's right old man!" The blonde boldly stated.

The guard was about to hit and scold the disrespectful child but refrained from doing so because of the general's outburst of laughter.

"Haha! You are quite brave boy for addressing me as such in front of my men. Some of them would not be happy with you for that response but I find your words have some merit to them. Tell me young man, what is your name?" boisterously asked Iroh.

"Its Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Well it is a pleasure to meet you Fishcake." joked the general.

"Hey it doesn't stand for fishcake its spelt with the Kanji for Maelstrom!" shouted Naruto indignantly due to his pride being poked at.

"Ok ,settle down Swirling Maelstrom I'm only getting back at you for the old man comment. So do you have anywhere to be or would you care to stay for supper?"

Right then and there Naruto's stomach growled answering his question. Lee could not believe what he was hearing, but then again, this was one of the most laid back generals in all of the Fire Nation so it didn't surprise him entirely. The camps were made rather quickly and dinner shortly followed. As the night went on Naruto got to know Iroh as the two interacted with each other, and Naruto came to a conclusion.

_He may be Fire Nation, but he is one of the coolest, wisest, and nicest, people I have ever met._

Neither said anything for a while as Naruto sat and looked around with the feeling of a full belly, something he had not felt for a while, while Iroh simply sipped on his cup of Jasmine tea. That was until Iroh broke the silence with a question for the unfortunate boy.

"Naruto, if you don't mind me asking, where are your parents? I think they would be worried right now if they don't know where you are, don't you think?" Asked Iroh in earnest.

Naruto became downtrodden as he stated, "I don't have any parents. My mom died giving birth to me, and I never knew my dad..."

"I am sorry,... Am I to assume then that you have no home to go to as well?"

"No, I live under the maple tree just on the road out of town." Said the boy averting his gaze.

"Well I do suppose that home is where the heart is, but still you are too young to be living out all on your own."

"I manage just fine old man"

"Judging by your thin frame and how quickly you ate your food I'd say otherwise."

Naruto just kept his eyes on the ground and said nothing.

"I'll tell you what. If you want to, you could come with me to the Fire Nation. I have come to enjoy your company and would be delighted if such a kind and kindred spirit as yourself would join us on our journey back home. That is of course only if you want to."

Naruto's head whipped up to meet the sincere eyes of the older man. His jaw dropped in shock as he processed what he had just heard. How many nights had he dreamed of finally having someone who cared about him. How many daydreams had he had about a having a family that would come and take him away from the orphanage. How many times had he been jealous of the other kids who got adopted while he remained rooted in loveless place. And now here it was that he was finally getting his wish to be wanted and cared about by someone else.

After Naruto's initial shock at the question he lept up and hugged the still aging general, much to the discomfort of the Elite Guard.

"Want to?! Nothing would make me happier than to go with you! You have no idea how long I dreamed of something like this happening!" exclaimed Naruto as he finally let go of Iroh allowing the elderly prince to breathe again.

Lee walked up to Iroh, after listening to the latest exchange between the two, and whispered in his ear, "Are you sure this is wise sir? You only just met him. He could be an assassin for all we know and you are only making it easier for him to get close to you."

Iroh simply looked to the head of the royal guard and said, "I can see the purity within his eyes Lee. He is just an ill fortuned boy who is kind hearted and will grow to be a loyal, and true young man with time and I hope to guide him on this path."

Naruto did not hear this exchange between Lee and Iroh because he was too excited about the news he had just received and was running around in circles whooping giving the nearby soldiers a good bit of a laugh with the end of their meals.

"He reminds you of him, doesn't he sir?" Lee stated in a soft undertone.

Iroh looked at the boy with melancholy in his eyes, "Yes he does but that is not the reason I want him to join us. I saw a true kind hearted spirit in need of someone to guide them and so I offered my hand." Stated Iroh with truth in his heart.

"I see sir. If I might make a suggestion sir?"

He nodded his head.

"I would suggest getting to bed soon for we have a long journey ahead of us before we get to the other battlements for the soldiers and then further still before we get to the ship to take us back."

"You are right Lee. I will do just that. But before I retire for the night please get a bedroll situated for Naruto as well. Seeing as he will be traveling with us tomorrow."

"Of course sir, goodnight General."

"Goodnight Lee. Naruto! Its time we head to bed we have an early start tomorrow." called out Iroh.

"Alright old man, I'll be right there!" replied Naruto as he ran to meet back up with Iroh before he went to bed for the night.

Naruto awoke in his bedroll to the sound of Lee telling him it was time to rise and eat breakfast. It was all a quick affair as right after they ate the troops packed up their belongings and made ready to march once again.

"Naruto how about you ride with me on my Komodo-Rhino?" Asked Iroh in an almost fatherly tone.

"Sure thing old man!" called out the energetic blonde as he made his way over and on to the deadly beast of burden.

Once Naruto was situated Iroh called over his commander once again and gave the order to leave the town and continue the journey once more.

They restarted their trek where they left off the previous day and continued on the dirt road out of the town.

As they got to the outskirts of the town Naruto looked over to the maple tree he had been using as his home for the last six months one last time.

"Is it true that the Fire Nation army took it away?"

"Yeah thats what I heard. Who'd have thought the Fire Nation would do us a favor before they left huh?"

"Yeah well good riddance. We don't need children possessed by evil spirits in our town!"

""You said it!"

"Look all that matters is that its the Fire Nation's problem now."

"True enough."

**A/N: Hello everybody! I hope you enjoyed my first installment of my first ever fanfiction ****Naruto: Son of Iroh: Water****. Just to let you know this story will be split into 3 books like in the series (i.e. Water, Earth, and Fire). I have an outline of how the story will go but I am open to suggestions and plot devices and will give credit accordingly. On that note I am looking for a person to beta test my chapters so if you feel like helping me along the lines of plott and grammar fixing then by all means PM me. Please review for that would be much appreciated and will help me get out a better story. Flames are appreciated as well for it is winter and I can use the extra warmth to heat up my house.**

**Stay frosty my friends.**

***End Transmition***


	3. Water Ch 2: A Little Clairity

27

** A/N: Well all I can say is ... WOW. I never really thought that my first fic with its first chapter would go off to a great start. I mean almost a thousand views in less than a week makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Those of you who posted reviews thank you! You have no idea how much it helps for me to get ideas from you guys and also it helps me direct the flow of the story better. Shout outs to first Favorite and first answerable review in order ****tstoldt ****and then ****sarge234****. For the first part of the fic I will use this space to answer questions unless it bugs you all then I will just PM in the future. And again thanks!**

**A/N 7/18/2013****: The new chapter is not the last chapter the new chapter is the first chapter seeing as I added a prologue to the story. The newest chapter, the one taking place after this chapter, will be up in about two days. Sorry for the confusion for anyone who has simply gone to the last chapter thinking it was the new one. So please go back to the beginning of the story and read the FIRST chapter.**

**Reviews:**

Sarge234: Naruto will play a key role in the story as well as add his humor to the mix. The story will mostly follow him in his life but will also follow the other characters once they meet Naruto.

FoxDemon1023: Sorry abilities will only be revealed as the story goes. I mean I can't give away the entire plot because otherwise why would you read it then?

Lord of the weed: Not very up to date on the abbreviations so I'm not sure what ya mean by OC, but you've got a good idea about zero tail jinchuriki in a sense. Another point is that even though I said blood gore etc. well that doesn't mean that as an eight year old he is going to be able to cause internal bleeding yet. Because he was also hardly in his no tail mode that all he did was hit the other boy with high speed and strength for his age. The bully simply cracked the wall with his body from the force and was knocked out from hitting his head. But thank you for pointing out the lack of injury detail and it showed my mistake of less explanation so thanks. As to the suggestions I don't think I will add Jutsu to this simply because this is the Avatar's world not Naruto's. But his powers will be different from Naruto universe. For hints to this watch the winter solstice episode with the spirit Habi (not sure on spelling).

fighting hope: Uh oh well I hope I find whatever that sumthing is. I don't want my story lacking.

Digitize27: Sure why not. Just PM on how to do it, and as for update speed my plan WAS every few weeks or so. I'm still in school so there were complications.

zingerblue As I said earlier can't give away things so, no comment. As for weapons I already have an idea, a whip or chain doesn't seem like Naruto's fighting style and I have no idea how one would use a chakram. Maybe someone else in my story could but I just don't know enough about the weapon to make it real or flow.

KineticKaiser: You make a good point. In fact Avatar was based off more of Chinese culture than anything else but I have my reasons for using it. 1) I feel that the Fire Nation is kinda based off of Imperialistic Japan. I mean Japan is made up of islands, so is the Fire Nation. It just reminds me too much of how Japan invaded China and tried to take over it in WWII. So I will only have the Fire Nation use the endings to names like san, sama, etc. and other phrases. 2) I personally just like it. I feel that in some ways it expresses more of how we feel about others better than the English language does. That's my reasoning in adding such things, if enough people don't like it I can just stop doing it and that will be that.

To all who reviewed thanks for the input and I hope you continue to help me make this a better fic through your input! Thank You!

**End Reviews**

For Disclaimer see chapter 1

Chapter 2: A Little Clarity

Naruto sat across from General Iroh as the steel Fire Nation ship traversed the ocean towards the Fire Nation's waters. He was currently trying to play a game of Pai Sho, a game consisting of an 18x18 spaced board and 108 tiles in all, with his now good friend. Naruto had been learning how to play Pai Sho during his travels with Iroh back to the Fire Nation. It taxed the eight-year old's mind but he was finally figuring out how to move the pieces to create more harmonies thus more points. He was still having trouble getting around the special move pieces. Whenever he thought he would cleverly set up a harmony in came Iroh with a boat or a knotweed tile to offset his plans. Then when the game would be coming to a close Iroh would use his wheels and white lotus tiles to blow Naruto out of the water with extra point harmonies. To say it was frustrating was an understatement.

"Ugh. I never win at this stupid game!" exacerbated Naruto as he lost for the fifth time in a row.

"Don't get so upset Naruto. It will take time before you understand such complex strategies and can use them effectively yourself. I have been playing this game for longer than you have even been alive, while you just started learning this last month."

"Still it's annoying when you get 10 harmonies without trying, and I only get 1 or 2 if I'm lucky." grumbled the rookie.

There came a knock on the general's private quarters and Captain of the Elite Guard walked in.

"Iroh-sama we can see the Crescent Island. We should be arriving in about 15 minutes give or take the time to dock." stated Lee.

"Thank you Lee-kun. Have the others on the ship been informed?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, please send a hawk to my brother to announce our arrival into true Fire Nation waters and of my traveling companion here. My brother is not one for surprises after all." said Iroh.

"At once sir, but shall we tell him why you are here or omit that piece?" Lee asked with caution. It was a delicate subject to touch with the general about but Iroh understood the need for the question.

"Hmm... that's a good question. Leave it out unless he asks for the reason why. If he asks tell him the truth." Stated the general simply. Lee made to leave but was assaulted by a yellow blur before he could go to send the hawk.

"Hey what's your problem Lee I don't even get a 'Hello'? That's just mean." Naruto complained as he clung to the captain.

"Calm down gaki, I was just delivering a message to the general." Responded the annoyed Elite Guard. It seemed that if Naruto ever got bored hanging out with Iroh he would come and try to annoy him. It would be funny or cute if it weren't for the fact that Lee was trying to do his own job.

"I know that, but that doesn't mean you can't say hi to me ya jerk!"

Iroh simply watched the scene unfold in front of him and laughed at the boy's shenanigans. He watched the exchange for a while until memories of what he recently lost came back to him. A pain of longing appeared on Iroh's face as he continued with his thoughts of Lu-Ten until-

"Hey, old man! Are you ok? You seem upset." asked Naruto concern permeating his tone. Seeing the boy's distraction Lee made his escape before the boy would notice his absence.

"I'm fine Naruto-kun, I was just lost in my memories for a while." replied Iroh in a weary voice.

"Ok, whatever you say old man." The boy turned to leave for his room seeing as his newest friend was wrapped up in his thoughts.

"Oh, Naruto!" Iroh called to him as he was just about to exit out of the portal door.

"Yeah?"

"Before we go to see the Fire-Sages I need to ask you a few things."

Naruto couldn't help wondering what Iroh wanted to know. He could tell Iroh was being serious due to his now authoritative gaze Naruto was receiving. The boy also had a few questions of his own he had to ask such who the Fire-Sages were and why only he and Iroh were going to be the only ones to see them. Naruto made his way to the chair back to the Pai-Sho table and sat down.

"So what do you want to know?"

"Well from our talks before I know this is a hard subject but I really need to know why you were kicked out of the orphanage, and also if you know anything of your heritage. Any knowledge on them would be nice to know before we visit the Fire-Sages." said Iroh with the conviction of one in power but not to abuse it

"One thing first, who are the Fire-Sages and why are we going to see them. I mean you've told me about them but what do they do?"

"You mean I haven't told you yet?" he said disbelievingly. "Well to put it simply the Fire-Sages were once an order of spiritual monks who served the Avatar. They were men who felt a strong connection with the spirit world and could commune with spirits on the solstices when the line between our worlds is blurred. They would seek guidance from the Avatar for journeys into the spirit world and in exchange the Avatar would receive firebending training and a place that would always welcome him. Since the war started and the disappearance of the Avatar the Sages were forced to swear allegiance to him. Thus it later became a tradition to see amongst the royal sons and daughters who would be more gifted with firebending by going to be examined by the Sages. This was an idea that Sozan had to make the Sages "more useful" in his eyes, because the Sages, through the Avatar's training, were able to sense a bender's abilities through a ceremony that even I once went through myself. Which leads us back to you. We may be able to find out whether or not you can bend or not through this process...But that is also why I need to know if you know anything of your heritage and why you were kicked out of the orphanage. Because if you are examined by the Sages they will report their findings to my brother and he is not really the understanding type. If there is a way to avoid this by what you know then we won't have you examined."

"But I still don't understand why I have to do this in the first place?" said the confused boy.

"Well the reason is because I want my future son to undergo this ceremony as well"

Naruto was frozen after hearing these words, his heart welled up into his throat as tears smarted in his eyes.

"What are you talking about you don't...wait...are you serious...are you saying that you...want to adopt me?" Iroh simply smiled and nodded his head to confirm Naruto's hopes as true. Naruto could not believe his ears as comprehension dawned on him. He had waited for this moment since he was old enough to know what parents were.

_Finally someone who cares. I don't even care if he is from the Fire Nation; he's not like the others. He is kind and knows a lot about all sorts of stuff. Hell I'm not gonna be choosy when it comes to this sort of thing._

Naruto simply jumped from his seat and into Iroh's waiting arms in joy. Iroh smiled with all of the kindness in his heart as he accepted him into his life. He had been hurting since Lu-Ten had died in battle and something about Naruto helped to fill that feeling of loneliness and made him smile again. It was as if he had not lost his son. As if his life was reincarnated in the blonde boy before him.

"So, Naruto is there anything at all that I must know?"

Naruto now looked at his future father with trepidation in his eyes. "Well I'm not sure really. I never knew my parents; all I know is what Lady Chiyo told me. She said my mom died in childbirth from me and that apparently my father was killed in the war before that, so I don't know anything about them. As for how I got kicked out ...well..., I guess after pulling so many pranks and then getting into a fight where I knocked the other boy out ...I guess it was too much for Lady Chiyo to deal with anymore. It had been me living on my own, under a maple tree, for a long while before I was caught by Lee and met you." He ended his last sentence with a smile for if it had not been for Lee "Catching" him he would not be where he was now, happy, safe, and with a new family.

"Well I suppose that's good enough for me, haha! Alright then we should be at the island dock any moment so be ready to depart Naruto-chan."

"Alright!" Naruto jumped into the air and ran out the door to find Lee and tell him the good (or in Lee's case bad) news.

_That is one thing I don't get, where does he get all of that energy from. _Iroh smiled and shook his head as he saw the energetic child disappear. Then his mind took a more serious train of thought. _I hope for your sake Naruto that you are somehow a firebender or not a bender at all or things may get a bit more complicated..._

Little did Iroh know that he would get his wish but with some unexpected consequences.

WATER

Naruto, Iroh, and the elite guard got off the ship and stood upon the black volcanic earth that was the island of the Fire Sages. To Naruto the place looked dead and barren except for the tall standing temple in front of him. If it were not for the temple Naruto would have thought they were in the wrong place. _How can anyone live here it looks so...empty._

"Welcome General Iroh-sama and company, we have been expecting you since we received your hawk." Naruto turned his attention to the elderly Fire Sage after hearing the man's deep gravelly voice. The man was old and hunched over in stature. He wore a red ceremonial hat that curved upwards to three lighter red prongs. On the front of his hat was a ruby in the shape of a diamond that symbolized him as the Head Sage. His red and orange robes with a black sash belt were more complicated in make probably to also show status among the other Sages. The other sages in the welcoming party wore similar outfits with no ruby in the hat but instead imbedded in the chest of the robes. The robes were not as complex on their bodies and seemed to flow more uniformly.

"Thank you Sage-dono, your welcome is most kind and appreciated." formally stated Iroh as he proceeded to exchange greetings with the Head Sage.

"You honor me, but I believe you are mistaken we are not on the same level of stature. You are a part of the ruling family while I only do the out of date spiritual needs required by the family." said the sage out of politeness.

"No I believe we are on the same level if not you are higher for the Fire Lord originated from the Fire Sages until he separated and reduced the powers of the Fire Sages and made the ruling party and spiritual needs separate. For without the help of the Sages involving the spirits I believe the Fire Nation would be in turmoil instead of the prosperous state we are in right now." said Iroh in all honesty.

"Thank you, I had begun to think that people were forgetting what the Fire Sages truly are to the Fire Nation. Hearing your words brings me hope that we will not be forgotten anytime soon." The Sage then bowed as he came back up he finally spied Naruto.

"So this is the boy you wish to have tested... He already looks promising due to the state of his hair."

"Hey what's my hair got to do with anything!?"

"Well to answer your question boy. The usual hair color across all of the elemental nations is either black or brown, not a vibrant yellow color as you have their upon your brow."

"So..."

"I will explain later if my assumptions are true. Now if you would please follow me we shall go to where you will be examined."

"_I will explain later if my assumptions are true. _Jeez how come all old people never give you a real answer!" complained Naruto as he imitated the old sage. The rest of the party deadpanned at his actions as a vein on the elder's head sprang forth from annoyance.

Instead of acknowledging the comment, the Head Sage simply continued to walk away and show them to the examination room. He was not the Head Sage for nothing, if anything at all he learned patience was key to many things in life and no way was he going let an eight year old get the best of him.

The group moved in silence as they climbed the black stone steps to the temple. It was not until they were inside the temple and going up the spiraling stairs that Iroh broke the silence.

"So Naruto-chan has anyone ever told you about this temple?"

"No... I only just heard about it." _And only from you mentioning it._

"Well it was said that this temple has existed for many generations, since before the Fire Lord was a separate entity from the Fire Sages but probably the most famous person to call this place home was one of the avatars, his name was Avatar Roku. He lived here for a time to truly perfect his firebending and later used this place as an official headquarters for when he was to help with negotiations between the four nations. In fact it is even rumored that Avatar Roku even made secret tunnels throughout the palace out of magma so that if the Sages ever came under an attack they could escape to continue their work elsewhere."

Naruto's ears perked after that last part and with excitement in his voice he asked, "Can we go and see the tunnels? Please?"

"I'm sorry to get your hopes up Naruto-chan, but I'm afraid that those were just rumors. I bet that-"

"I'm sorry to cut you off Iroh-sama but I must ask that the rest of your guard remain behind the doors as we have arrived to the ceremonial room."

Naruto looked around and saw that they were finally on the top most floor of the building. They were in a large ornate red room with red and black pillars going up from the black marble floor to the red and gold accented ceiling. Once he took in the surroundings he finally noticed the large metal door. Instead of a handle to open the door there was a mechanism on the giant black imposing door made up of five red and black dragon's jaws open and ready to spit fire. Above the dragon's head was a giant gold flame, the symbol of the Fire Nation, made of sheet metal. Naruto could also see the many gears behind the heads and flame, making the blonde boy wonder what they did and why they were even on the door.

It was after these observations that five of the Fire Sages lined up across from each dragon head and took a wide stance. Each took a deep breath in unison and then struck out with a fist releasing a torrent of flame into each dragon's mouth. Then what appeared to be steam leaked out of the gears and the mechanism began to unwind and the golden frozen fire blossomed away from the middle of the door unlocking it. Naruto, Iroh, and the Fire Sages walked into the room leaving the Royal Guard behind them. As soon as they were inside the doors once again closed with a resonating boom of finality that echoed throughout the temple.

The whisker faced boy looked at the room in awe. In the room was a giant solar calendar made up of red, gold, and black granite or marble on the ground. Towards the back end of the room was a golden statue of Avatar Roku with a massive amount of golden flames sprouting and fanning out behind his body in a glorious fashion. The way it was created made it look as if the flames were alive and moving while you walked about. A red light beam, projected from a solstice stone above the imposing door, was touching the left wall signifying that it was the middle of spring. The blonde eight-year-old could only gaze in slack jawed wonder. He didn't even notice that the High Sage had pulled Iroh aside to discuss more delicate matters as the boy was distracted.

"As for the other request you made, we will grant it though it goes against our principles we will comply if it will help you gain closure. We will have to do it at the same time as Naruto's examination. We can't do more than one trip to the spirit world when we are not on the solstice." whispered the High Sage.

"I understand and I thank you for you leniency with me." Iroh acknowledged gratefully. The sage nodded and proceeded to make the gawking child aware once more.

"Naruto, I need you and Iroh to go to the middle of the calendar and sit in a meditative position."

Naruto look back with a start and asked, "What's a meditative position?"

"Just sit with your legs crossed and relax, then we will start the ceremony."

"Okay." He was nervous as to how they were going to administer this test as he slowly made his way inside the giant circle. Iroh put a supportive hand on Naruto's shoulder trying to calm him down. Iroh sat down as well, crossing his legs and taking a deep breath in and began to relax. Naruto modeled his new father and was finally able to relax. Seeing this, the sages quickly took their positions around the circle. They sat down and began to chant in low monotonous voices as the High Sage proceeded to kneel and place a hand on Naruto's and Iroh's heads.

Naruto was startled by the sudden touch but before he could do anything he and Iroh collapsed as well as the High Sage.

WATER

Naruto suddenly found himself in a different place than he was before. He stood upon a mountain plateau looking over a swamp filled with brown water and mangrove trees. He continued to gaze until he realized he was not alone.

"Well it appears that we had no problems connecting to the spirit world and what a view it is. Naruto you have a very lovely place to look forward to when you pass on." Complemented Iroh as he gazed about the area which they were in.

"Quiet beautiful indeed, it shows how free spirited you are as a person. The location you appear in Naruto is yours when you die, but the place is a representation of you. Now let's look around and see if we can find what we are looking for." Stated the elder sage with a tone that read all business.

"What are we looking for by the way?" Inquired the boy.

"We are looking for the manifestation of your bending. Not everyone can bend so that may mean you won't have a representation of it, but you have to search to find it" said the Fire Nation general. The company turned around and noticed a giant cave in the side of a mountain. As Naruto gazed into the mouth of the cave he could feel a great power emanating within.

"I think the mana-whatcha call it is in there." The three of them slowly walked forward inside the cave. The tunnel began to slope down into the heart of the mountain and the rocky crevice became dark. As they went deeper a wind seemed to pick up and grow stronger the further they went. It seemed as if an hour had gone by before they began to see a glow at the end of the tunnel they rushed forward into the cave and then froze.

The cave was dimly lit with some ethereal floating flames that danced in the winds that blew within the cavern, but that is not what held everyone's attention. No, what held their gaze was lying on the floor in the middle of the giant cavern. An enormous red fox was curled up in a ball of fur surrounded by nine spread out tails.

"It is as I thought when I saw him but to be intertwined with such a large spirit is incredible. This boy has much potential depending on how the spirit will behave. In all of my years I have never seen something this formidable or powerful..." Whispered the High Sage aloud though it seems as if it was his thoughts put to words.

"What do you mean as you thought?" Said Iroh snapping the elder out of his thoughts.

"Well when I first saw the boy I noticed his hair and the scars on his face. It leads me to believe that he was touched by a spirit when he was born, but never would I have thought he would be connected to a spirit and so directly. We must proceed with caution or else we may make a foe out of a great spirit-"

"HOLY HOGMONKEYS! THAT FOX IS HUGE!"

Iroh and the sage sweatdropped as Naruto ran up to the fox to get a better look when-

**"Who the hell is making all the fucking noise!? I swear if it's that damned monkey again, spirit or not, I'll kill him!"** Bellowed out the fox as it awoke from its nap. He sniffed the air and discovered a few new scents in his den. Its eyelid snapped open as he saw a blonde whisker marked boy, a decrepit priest in red robes, and a fat middle aged man staring at him with fear in their eyes.

**"And who the hell are you?...well speak up before I get bored and devour you...as for the torch-head I am surprised my vessel has come to visit me in person seeing as it has never happened before with any of the previous vessels."** Grumbled the red fox.

When Naruto realized he was "Torch-Head" he cried out indignantly before the sage and general could give their identities, "Who you call'n Torch-Head ya overgrown rat!"

**"You, pipsqueak, who else here has their head brighter than the sun. And as for that insult you are just so lucky I can't kill you or I would have slashed out your intestines for that comment."**

"Why can't you kill me? You scared I'll beat you up or somethin'?"

**"No...because if you die, I die. And dying is painful. I've died too many times for my liking as it is and it hurts like hell every time."**

"Oh."

Iroh and the High Sage could hardly believe what they were witnessing. An eight year-old just had an exchange of insults with a mighty spirit and was not completely decimated before their eyes. It was a while before anyone spoke again, that is until Iroh got the nerve to talk to the fox spirit.

"We are sorry to disturb you Great Spirit but we have been looking for Naruto-chan's bending manifestation when we stumbled upon your den. But since we are here do you know where we might find it?" Cautiously inquired Iroh.

**"I have not seen it nor do I care. For all I know I could be the manifestation of firebending for him, after all I am one of the great fire spirits. If you wish I could give him the ability to firebend."** Stated the fox with boredom in his voice.

"That is a very generous offer but why would you give Naruto firebending? What do you stand to gain from it?" Asked Iroh voicing his suspicions, knowing from the legends that spirits never usually did anything unless they would receive something in return.

**"What do I want? That is an easy question to answer. I don't want the brat to die. Like I said before if he dies I die, I know about the war, I also saw him having to live on the streets, if he wasn't such a quick learner I would have already died and been transferred to a new vessel. Thankfully the brat isn't as dumb as he looks."**

"Hey!"

**"So that fat man is enough for me to help the child that is if he wants it... Think of it as me investing in my life span by giving him power." **The fox turned his head towards Naruto expecting a reply. _-Well I don't know, I mean the firebenders I knew were always so mean to me what if I become them? But then again the fox said he didn't see anything about my bending powers, so I guess I don't have anything special if I don't accept the offer. That would make this whole thing a waste of time for Iroh and everyone else. _With that Naruto made his mind before the sage or Iroh could help him with his decision.

"Fine, ya giant furball, let's do it."

**"Hmm quite the energetic little child I see. Alright well here we go." **The fox grinned with mischief in his eyes, _**This will definitely make things more... Interesting.**_ The fox got up on and fanned himself out it was quite intimidating to see even if it was only stretching itself out. It then sat down on its hind legs and stretched out a single claw towards the blonde. The others could only wait and watch as the claw touched Naruto's forehead. A red glow erupted from the tip of the black claw and engulfed the now frozen blonde boy. Then as soon as it came the light disappeared and so did "Naruto-chan!"

WATER

Naruto awoke with a start and looked around. He saw the sages were still chanting and the others were still unconscious.

_Well that was stupid. The fox lied and here I am the same as-_

His thoughts were immediately stopped as he felt pain. A horribly agonizing searing pain that spread from his forehead and quickly moved throughout his body. It felt as if his veins were burning with liquid fire and he screamed out in agony breaking the sages from their stupor. One sage ran over and dragged Naruto from the circle as the boy was thrashing about making it difficult to remove him from the area. Then as quickly as it started it was over. Naruto lay unconscious as the sage propped him up against the wall.

WATER

"Where did he go?! What did you do to him?!" Shouted the general in anger and concern for his adoptive son.

**"Relax fat one, I simply gave him what I said I would. The power surge must have forced him back to the world of the living. Not that I really care where he went, but as I said if he dies, I die."** Said the fox in an annoyed tone as he eyed his unwelcome visitors, **"I believe our business is over with here...Now get out of my den."** Growled out the fox.

Iroh looked about to press the issue about Naruto but the High Sage turned to Iroh and said, "I know you are concerned about the boy but we must continue our journey. We are running out of time and if it is as the fox said then this is the perfect opportunity to put your mind to rest without Naruto here. Also do you really wish to incur the wrath of a spirit should we stay any longer? Do you not wish to see Lu-Ten again?"

Iroh could not deny the truth in his words, so with reluctance he and the sage departed from the mountain.

_**Well at least things will start to get interesting around here for once...maybe now I will be free and able to go to the world of the living. I've only been waiting a millennium to do so... **_So thought the red nine tailed fox as he went back to his regular afternoon nap.

WATER

It was a great while before Naruto awoke. When came around he felt he was rocking back and forth as his head pounded from a migraine.

_What was the heck was that about. I wake up all fine and dandy then the next thing I know it's like I'm on fire and then I'm out again. Just what happened? _

"Oh well it's good to see you are finally awake you gave Iroh and the crew quite a scare."

Naruto looked around and realized he was in his quarters on the ship they had been sailing on and that Lee was sitting in the chair next to Naruto's Pai Sho table.

"What happened? Uh, hold that thought I seriously need to go to the bathroom." Naruto said before Lee could continue.

Naruto jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom to relieve himself. When that was finished he felt his stomach rumble and pain as if he hadn't eaten in a long while, a pain he hadn't felt since he lived under the old maple.

"Just how long have I been asleep for?" Asked the boy to no one in particular, which is why he was startled when someone did reply.

**"You've been out for a few days, three to be exact." **

Naruto whipped his head about looking for the speaker in the hallway but found none.

"Where are you? And who are you? Show yourself coward!" Naruto exclaimed as his eyes darted about searching for the source of the voice. It sounded oddly familiar but he could not place his finger on it

**"Only three days go by since you met me and I'm already forgotten. I'm insulted." **Said the voice feigning hurt in its booming voice.

Realization dawned upon him as he thought back to the ceremony, "The giant fox? Where are ya, and why are you hiding from me?"

**"I'm not hiding you idiot, I'm still in your section of the spirit world or "mindscape" as some people call it. And I do have a name you know." **growled the fox.

_"How was I supposed to know that? It's not my fault if you don't introduce yourself...Wait how the heck are you talking to me then?"_

**"Well when I gave you the ability to firebend some of my "essence", if you will, was placed into you thus linking our minds together. Honestly I had no idea that this would happen, it's not like I want to know whatever you are thinking."**

_"What is "essence"?" _Asked the already lost boy.

**"Ugh, just think part of my soul was put in you giving you firebending."**

_"Ohhhh, well why didn't you just say that?"_

**"Why do I even bother..." **grumbled the red fox.

After an awkward silence Naruto broke the quiet, _"So what is your name anyway Mr. Fox?"_

**"My name is Kurama the Nine Tailed Fox, one of the great fire spirits and don't you forget it mortal."**

_"Yeah, yeah, I got a name too ya know. It's Naruto and don't you forget it Kurama!" _shouted Naruto in his mind.

**"I have a feeling I won't whether I want to or not. Now I think I will go back to napping so long as that blasted monkey stays away..." **said Kurama as he faded from Naruto conscious mumbling the last part to himself.

_"Whatever, do what you want you lazy fox; I'm gonna go eat." _

Naruto finally made his way out of theship hallway and walked back into his room where Lee was patiently waiting for him.

"Better?" Lee asked in an amused tone. He was dressed in his uniform still but had his helmet off for once, so he must have been off duty for the time being. He had jet black hair and amber-golden eyes like most Fire Nation natives. He had a small narrow nose and high cheekbones making his eyes deep set into his head. He sported a black goatee and had his hair in a small ponytail bun on the top of his head. Were it not for his smile and caring expression he would be quite an intimidating figure to look at.

"Yeah sorry 'bout that but I **really** had to go there, haha." Naruto muttered embarrassed.

"I bet you did. You gave us all quite a scare, you've been out for three days, how do you feel?" Asked the concerned captain.

"Well other than waking up with a headache I'm just fine, probably because I'm so hungry. Right now I bet anything would taste good if I ate it."

"Well on this ship I guess that's a blessing seeing as the food here sucks" Joked the captain, "Just don't tell the cooks I said that."

"Okay, but seriously where can a kid get some food to eat, I'm starving!" Complained the whisker faced boy.

"Alright we'll eat first then go see General Iroh; he's been worried sick about you."

The odd duo walked to the mess hall on the ship. They were greeted by the soldiers and chefs with warmth seeing as Naruto had sort of become the ships mascot and source of entertainment...so long as you weren't who he was using to entertain the rest of the ship with. They sat at one of the tables and began eating just after Naruto had scarfed down his first bowl with gusto, then the next and the next. Four more bowls of whatever the murky brown goop was Naruto slouched back stomach satisfied. Lee had just finished his bowl without disgustingly face stuffing.

"Ha, my mom used to say "anything tastes good if you wait long enough", but I had never actually seen it work in action." It was then that Lee looked to the wall and his attitude changed from happy to serious.

"Sorry to cut the reunion short but I have to get back to work. Be sure to see Iroh-sama when you have finished eating, he's been worried sick about you, so it's best you don't dawdle." And with that the captain left to retake his post.

Naruto, after he set up his next prank, (nothing like some tripwire for the next person through the line for food, no one could figure out where or how he got the supplies for his pranks though), decided to listen to Lee and follow up with Iroh. He exited the commons and went to go find his father. His search ended as he came to the general's private quarters, and the guard announced his presence. Naruto did not have to wait long before Iroh rushed out of his quarters and wrapped Naruto up in a massive hug.

"Naruto-Chan I was so worried! It is good to see you up and well again my son." Cried the concerned general. Naruto felt a warmth spread in his chest at the proclamation and the previously love deprived boy hugged his father back.

"You didn't need to worry, I always turn out okay." Said Naruto almost as if he was trying to push off the situation.

"Sorry but that's what parents do when their children are in a tight spot." chuckled Iroh as he released the blonde eight-year-old. "But now that you are awake we have some important things to talk about, like that new friend of yours."

Naruto followed Iroh into his private quarters after he had asked all of the elite guards to leave. Lee was about to protest but when he saw the look on his superior's face he knew he had to leave. Lee sealed the metal door shut and did the next best thing he could to protect his leader...and even the boy inside, by standing in front of the door as they discussed matters. They made their way over to the Pai Sho table, but neither person made a move to set pieces upon the board after they had sat down showing how serious this matter truly was. If it had been anything else the table would be set, for most matters could be discussed over a good game of Pai Sho.

They both looked at each other as Iroh tried to find the best way to approach the topic. Eventually Naruto's impatience broke the tense silence.

"Are you going to say anything, or are ya gonna just keep staring at me?" accused the bored kid

"Forgive me Naruto-chan; I was just trying to figure out how best to discuss this with you but I guess with you it is best to be blunt."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked a confused Naruto.

"Don't trouble yourself about it," commented Iroh, "We have more important matters to talk about... So how do you **feel**?"

"Fine, but I don't see how I am feeling is anything we have to keep a secret about." said Naruto missing the point of the question.

"I mean after we went into the spirit world and the fox spirit-"

"His name is Kurama."

Iroh looked down at Naruto in surprise, "How do you know its name?"

"He talked to me this morning." said Naruto as if it was common place.

Now Iroh looked in disbelief, "We go to the spirit realm, a great spirit claims to give you powers, and then when I ask how you feel, you say fine but forget to mention anything about a spirit contacting you while in the other world..."

"All you asked was how I was feeling not if anything new had happened since then." Said Naruto once again missing the point.

Iroh proceeded to place a hand on his face and sigh, "Never mind, as I was saying, do you feel any different than usual, like hot, more energy, or just stronger in general?"

"Not that I can tell."

"Well then let's have a test," Iroh got up from his seat and went to go and get a candle. As soon as he found one he came back to the table and lit it by placing his fingers on the wick, "Try to make the flame grow in size. To do this feel the energy of the flame and breathe, if you can firebend the flame should grow because you are giving it more energy."

Naruto focused on the flame, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. He then released the air from his lungs and... The flame was blown out instead of growing in size. The blonde haired boy opened his eyes to see that the candle was dead.

"Hey Kurama, what's the deal man? I thought you gave me the power to firebend?" he asked both mad and befuddled.

**"It's not my fault that you suck at firebending. Just because you have the ability to do it doesn't mean you can do it right away. Most firebenders take months at the least to at least see if the can firebend let alone actually doing it," **growled out the annoyed fox, **"Now stop bothering me as I'm trying to sleep. Oh and if you are going to talk to me just think it, because you look insane right now because only you can hear me, idiot."**

"Hey! Can it you lazy fox!" It was then Naruto noticed the confused expression of his new father. "That looked weird didn't it?"

"Yes it did, but that doesn't matter right now, what did he say about your powers?" Iroh asked curiosity all over his face.

"He said that it's because I am not good at using them yet, he said just because I have the power doesn't mean I can do it yet. So I guess I just have to practice."

"It may not sound like it but that's good news, I'm actually glad you can't do it right away. This way you can actually learn the basics of how to do it and firebend properly with good technique and fundamentals."

Naruto was a little disappointed that he couldn't firebend already but at least he knew he would be able to firebend and that just made him look forward to learning how, _you could almost say someone had lit a fire inside of him_. Then, as if on cue, a knock was heard upon the steel door. Father and son both got up and went to the door to see what was going on. Iroh peered through the door's shutter and then let the man in as it was one of the crewmen from the deck.

"Iroh-sama I am 'ere to report that we 'ave arrived at the Gates of Azulon and that we will be at port in 'bout fifteen minutes give or take the check-in time."

"Thank you for the message, please pass the message on to all crewmembers and soldiers alike. We have to make a good appearance when arriving on shore. Please hurry."

"Hai!" with that the deck hand left to spread the word, by bird even if he had to. It was impressive how Iroh led. He would ask you to do something politely instead of command and he would give his fullest attention to whoever was talking to him making sure that each person was respected, even though they were lower rank or considered below him due to his royal status. He was just in making decisions about quarrels and tactics on the battlefield. He would not go on an escapade to increase his fame wasting time and manpower, he would also not needlessly sacrifice his men just to make it easier on the main body of soldiers or if it was needed he would tell them of the risks and ask for volunteers. Iroh would make sure that those volunteers would be given many wartime honors, increased funds to the families (or soldiers if they survived), and if they died he would write letters of condolences when he could to the families personalizing each letter. It was because of this he had a fierce loyalty from his subordinates and his soldiers would fight to the end to either protect him or finish their mission.

"So Naruto-chan, seeing as this is your first time in the Fire Nation, let's go down to the deck so you can get your first glance at your new home." Iroh put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and led him down to the deck of the Cruiser ship. They exited the bridge and went to the bow of the ship near the front drop ramp to get a good look at the incoming archipelago.

Naruto looked and could see a giant steel and gold statue of a former Fire Lord, not that he knew it, and two fierce bronze dragons that looked as if they were about to spit flames built into the sides of the mountains on each side of the islands bay entrance. Behind the structure was the Royal Plaza that led into Harbor City further behind that was the green dormant volcano that had a zigzagging path upwards towards the summit of the sleeping giant. It was all a lot to take in, so Iroh let Naruto gawk for a while as he stared in wonder at the beautiful island. It astounded him that there was a place so untouched by the ravages of war. When he had grown up in the Earth Kingdom all he had seen was the destruction war had brought upon his town and the other local farms, and that was not pretty, but here was a living sanctuary. This was his home now intimidating but beautiful. Then a thought popped in Naruto's head. _Isn't there supposed to be some great gate here or something?_

"Hey old man, isn't there supposed to be a gate here, or did I hear that guy wrong?" Asked a wondering eight year-old

"No you heard correctly, the net is simply under the water. When an enemy ship is spotted an alarm is sounded and the net is raised and set aflame. It is quite intimidating if you should have to face it." explained the older man.

"But if the net is wet how does it catch on fire? And even if it did wouldn't the fire burn the rope making it useless?"

"For starters the net is made of metal cables, not rope. As for lighting the gate on fire, the gate is coated in a substance, its waterproof for a good long time and is very flammable, it starts as a liquid then dries onto the cables. Once it dries it can go underwater and have no worries of it coming off for a year, so once a year the gate is raised to recoat the gate with the combustible again."

"Oh... How long can the stuff burn for?"

"I think it can burn for three or four days."

"Wow."

"Yes it is very impressive," then Iroh remembered something, "Oh Naruto-chan, there is one more thing we forgot to address when we were up in my quarters."

"What's that?" asked Naruto.

"We are going to be seeing the Fire Lord when we arrive in the Royal Capital, Caldera. And, well, we are going to have to get you some new clothes before we see him. I hope I can get a day or two to prep you in how to treat nobles and such." Said Iroh mumbling the last part more to himself rather than anyone in particular.

"What's wrong with the ones got on?"

"They are not what we would call royal attire, and since you will be meeting the most powerful man in the nation it is best to make a good first impression. Plus your current clothes are too small and have holes and many stains, so what do you say? I'll even let you pick what you want so long as it is considered correct within the palace standards."

Naruto looked down at his clothes and spied everything that Iroh pointed out and then looked back up as he realized he had no choice in the matter. _And I do need new clothes after all I've been using these every day since we left. It would be nice to have some new clothes I just have a bad feeling about how stuffy it's gonna be._

"Alright I get it." Naruto complied

"Good now let's get ready because we are going to dock soon."

And with that the group went to prepare for landing.

WATER

The Royal Procession made its way off of the Fire Nation Cruiser and down to the stone pier of the harbor. The Harbor was made out of a white stone and had turrets protruding on top of the high walls as you made your way towards the five separate towers in back of the Royal Plaza. They had made it off of the harbor's docks and were now walking the long red path towards the middle and tallest of the towers which looked to be about a fourth of the height of the volcano behind it. As Naruto looked past the towers he noticed a winding path scaling the extinct giant littered with turrets. By now Naruto had to ask, "So what are those things on the walls and on that path, they all look the same?"

This time it was Captain Lee who decided to explain things to the boy, "Those things are called turrets and they are placed there and manned 24 hours a day in case of an invasion if they get past the Gate of Azulon and the harbor full of ships then the Royal Plaza is the next step for them to try to breach. If they get past this then the next true defense is the Trail of Fire which is the path you see up there. It gets its name from the fact that a natural lava fall carved out that turning path and it is the only way to scale the volcano because of how steep it is. Then the final defense is a series of steel bunkers underneath and inside the volcano, the royal family hides in one of them. The volcano has a natural labyrinth and traps from lava, so unless you know exactly where to go, it's suicide to try to find them. This place I'd say, other than Ba Sing Se, it's the most well protected and defendable location in the four elemental nations."

Naruto just looked in awe as he realized how strong the place was; he simply looked at it with a new appreciation then what he did before. Now when he looked closely at each turret he could see harpoons and other ballistics loaded in each opening. During his observations a messenger hawk came soaring downward towards the group and landed on Iroh's shoulder. Iroh reached for the bird's message holster and opened the scroll, read it, and then looked to Naruto.

"Well it looks like the Sages told my brother about what happened on Crescent Moon Island and he knows that we are here. He wants to meet you, Naruto, in a few hours. That should give us enough time to get you some better clothes and arrive there to see him on time."

"Why would the Sages tell your brother about what happened there? Isn't that supposed to be a secret?" wondered a now worried kid.

"The Sages used to be loyal to only the Avatar but now they report everything to the Fire Lord so that's why he knows, but other than him no one else knows." stated Iroh matter of factly.

"I don't get it...," then Realization dawn on him, "Wait your brother is the Fire Lord?!"

"Yes, it was only just recently that he was coroneted, originally I was to be crowned the next Fire Lord because I am the eldest, but my father revoked my birthrights because my only son and heir died about a month ago in the siege of Ba Sing Se. He did this in his final words before he died about three weeks ago thus my younger brother is the Fire Lord." said the general in a somber mood.

The traveling party went silent after those words until they got to the carts at the end of the Royal Plaza. They then took the waiting carts pulled by Komodo-Rhinos and left to go through Harbor city. Harbor city was more of an industrial factory than a city. The streets were coated in a layer of soot and the air was polluted with hazy smog. The people looked dirty and tired as they shuffled from building to building. There were many back allies and none seemed too friendly with many a shady character lying in wait for something, but Naruto knew not what that was. Naruto could hardly believe such a place of misery and filth could be hidden behind a monument of such beauty and power. Iroh noticed the look on Naruto's face and said to him, "Just remember Naruto there is always two sides to every coin, it'll get better once we enter the Capital. It is sad but war is a poison that affects everyone, even those not involved in it. The city here is a good example of what happens to those less fortunate than others in a warring country. I wish this war would end, there has been too much suffering across all lands." on that note the conversation once again went to a sad silence as they left Harbor City and traveled up the Trail of Fire.

It had taken them an hour to get through the city and make it to the crest of the volcanic summit. Once they peaked through the tunnel to the other side, Naruto was dumbstruck. There were many ornate buildings that were built tall with more than five stories and still the top of the crater towered over all. Like the Royal Plaza they were made out of white stone with red pagoda style tile roofs. At the center of the Capital was a large grey stone circle surrounded by impressive villas, and at the middle of the stone circle was the Royal Palace. It was created to stand out against the rest of the buildings, its tall spires surrounded by red pagoda spiked tile. It was laced with a golden colored material on its windows as well as olden flames on the top of each spire. Then towards the front of the palace was the Coronation Plaza with its shimmering twin reflecting pools and rectangular temple at the back. North of that was the Fire Sages Temple in the Caldera, made in the same way as the palace but not as big or attention grabbing as well as being located underneath one of the crater's spiky peaks. The area was surrounded by the other tall buildings which were where the nobles and other people of higher stature lived. There was also a lake where rain water had filled a section of the crater east of the palace and northwest under the tallest spike and under the shade of it was a dark black and grey circular building, the Capitol Prison Tower. A bit south of the prison were three smaller lakes with the rest of the residential places. Overall the sight was almost too much for Naruto to grasp in one sighting.

"This place is incredible!" shouted the blonde as he looked out the window. Lee just looked and shook his head at the boy, _I remember seeing it the first time myself, it really is incredible...so long as you don't dig too deep under the surface of the facade._

They continued down the path of the main road leading to the palace until about four streets away from the later destination they turn right and pulled up to a store called _The Lavish_ _Lotus. _The carriage opened up and Iroh, Naruto, and Lee stepped into the quaint shop while the rest of the guard waited outside. The shop was like most clothing stores only this one appeared to be for the rich and reasonable. They had the standard royal garbs of black and smoldering red with simple shoulder spikes while for the nobler in stature had some other color flare added and spiked top knots determining the socioeconomic standpoint of each citizen. They even carried soldier garments for those who were notable members of the military as well as just those showing a simple soldier. Each of these clothing designs were on wooden or cloth manikins and the interior of the shop was red, white, and gold color coordinated. A man stood behind the counter with a single spike in his top knot and some regular red and black robes that Fire Nation civilians would wear. He had standard amber eyes, high cheekbones and a black goatee to match his black hair and eyebrows. He has a tall and lanky man with a warm smile on his face as he saw who it was who walked into his shop.

"Iroh-sama it is good to see you in my shop again! How have you been?" said the man in a cheery manner.

"I have been better Hiro, but it is good to be home again." Stated the general

"Good to hear, so what brings you to my shop?" asked the tailor going into an all business attitude.

"Well it's this little boy right here," said Iroh as he push Naruto to the front of the group, "He has a meeting with the Fire Lord today in about 2 hours and well he also needs a full wardrobe, playing outfits, school clothes, bending practice uniform, formal and universal robes, and lastly sparring gear."

"That is quite a hefty order to put down, but not to worry I shall be able to at least get the formal robes done before the meeting but the rest will have to be delivered at a later time. Let me get the boy's measurements and we'll get started off of the stock and then sharpen it up to royal status." said Hiro as a fire appeared in his eyes at the spark of a new challenge before him.

Before he knew it, Naruto was pulled aside and being measured by the master tailor with a length of string, who took no notes as he memorized each measurement in his head. Then Naruto was rushed to a stand in front of three conjoining tall mirrors and Hiro disappeared for a few seconds only to be found with several sets of robes for Naruto to try on. Naruto was swept up in the tide of a wave of trying on and taking off varying sets of clothes, so much so that he had lost track of how many times he had put them on or taken them off. Eventually Hiro stopped making him try on clothes as he had found the perfect base for his work, it was a silk black robe with a black sash crossing his waist with red and gold trussed shoulders. Naruto was then ushered into a back room in private with Hiro. The room was a large assortment of flowers with no two flowers being the same and trees with flowers in bloom. It was a greenhouse like room with many different closed sections for different temperatures so that all flowers would be in bloom.

"Now Naruto this part is very important to my work," said Hiro in a very serious tone, "I need you to pick a flower, one that truly calls out to you. It will help me finish my work and help me with your future garments."

"What do flowers have to do with clothes?" asked Naruto doubtfully.

"Many things, but I cannot tell you as this is the secret to my work." Hiro was not offended or surprised by this question as many had asked him before.

"Whatever." Naruto proceeded to look around in each section until his gaze rested upon an orange flower with many petals spread out in a perfect circle. In the middle of it were five yellow stamen, that grew up a little higher than the fanned out petals, which the tops formed star shapes within the flower. He was drawn to it and picked it up.

As soon as he had made his choice Hiro walked over and marveled at his choice.

"You are an interesting person Naruto. I have only seen a few people pick this flower in all of my time working here. This flower, the Hyakunichisou, means loyalty. It is a good quality to have, especially these days. The orange can symbolize warmth, energy, balance, enthusiasm, flamboyance, and the demand for attention. I wonder what orange you will be." Hiro said in curiosity.

Naruto could only wonder to himself silently as he continued to look at the flower. Gently, he placed the flower back down and looked to Hiro. When that was done Hiro walked Naruto back to the mirrors and then he went back to his storage room. He came back with orange silk and a needle and thread. Iroh looked at the material and raised an eyebrow while Lee missed the significance behind the cloth. Hiro took Naruto's robe and on the interior sewed the orange silk to it. He then took another length of the material and sewed into some of the outside of his royal garb near the trussed shoulders, making it almost look like a flame.

With the final stitch and dawning the outfit on Naruto, Hiro said a satisfied voice, "While others only smolder in this day and age, I believe you shall burn brightly in everything you achieve to do, Naruto," ending his little speech in a voice of finality.

Then totally shattering the mood, Hiro said to Iroh, "Iroh-sama how would you like this done?"

Somehow Iroh was on the same page with the tall fellow and said, "Just combine all of the bills into one and send a hawk to my villa with the invoice. Then when I give you your dues please send the rest of the clothes." said Iroh all business in his tone.

"Now that those matters are all settled we need to go and see my brother," Iroh stated, "We need to hurry before we are late for the meeting."

With that being said the group went back to the carriages and headed towards the palace once more. It was five minutes before they arrived at the palaces gate. The palace was surrounded by a large grey stone carved wall laced with gold accents on the walls and pillars with gold spheres on top. The Gate door was red with interlacing curling gold surrounding a dark red flame like most of the Fire Nation flame symbols. The guards walked up to the carriage and saw it was Iroh and immediately told the men in the towers to open the way. They pulled up to the palace entrance and were greeted by one of the servants of the premises.

"Iroh-sama, you and your company are to follow me to the Throne Room upon the request of the Fire Lord. If you would please follow me." And without delay the group was on their way to the throne room. The red, black, and gold palace astounded Naruto as they strolled through the royal building. The halls were decorated with tapestries of the previous Fire Lords and were supported by many black marble pillars with golden dragon statues curling up and around each one. It took about ten minutes before they arrived before a large red curtain with the Fire Nation symbol on it.

"Iroh-sama, Naruto-san if you would please step through, the Fire Lord is waiting for you."

Naruto looked to his father who gave a nod of encouragement. Naruto looked forward once again and walked through the curtain.

**A/N: Well there ya have it folks, the second installment of ****NSoI: Water****. I am very sorry for such a long wait but school finals caught up to me, then playing in the Shrine Bowl for my state took out a lot of time that I had. I do have to say I feel proud of the length of the chapter and how it turned out as well (Over 10k words!). Also another reason for the delay is that I am co-writing a second story with my friend and that has taken a good amount of time to get the plot behind the story established. It is another Naruto crossover only this time with Pokémon, and no it is not the Pokémon world but neither is it entirely the ninja world. I'd say it is a solid combination of the two as opposed to this one which is a majority the Avatar world. It will either be posted on his stories or mine so I will keep you all updated on that as well. I think my update time frame for this story will be every month give or take a week. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Please review for I appreciate the input as well as it helps me think the plot out more thoroughly, plus it helps me know what I need to improve on. Flames are also fine as I can always use help getting my summer bonfires going (Damn things are fucking hard to get going).**

**P.S. - Also as an added bonus I have a playlist on Spotify that I listen to that helps me write the story. The play list's name is called NSOI, if you don't have Spotify, get it, it is free on the computer, it's like Pandora without the limit on hours and you can pick what songs you want to listen to (when you are on the computer). I created it and if you want a glimpse at how my brain works you can listen to that to see where I get some of my inspiration from. Some of the songs are the songs I will use for fight scenes and if they are not on that list I will post them as to what to listen to for each fight if you wish. …yep I think that is all I had to say. 7/18/13: I just realized you people can't find my play list unless you are my Facebook friends so there goes that idea. Instead on my Profile there will be a long list of songs that you can look up to see what I see on spotify and make your own playlist.**

**Anyways, as always stay frosty my friends.**

***End Transmission***


	4. Water Ch3: Royal Pains & Growing Flames

12

A/N: Wow this has been awesome to see this story I mean over 5000 views and 42 reviews makes me feel great, plus the story The Legendaries Walk Amongst Us is moving along well also. I just feel mighty dandy right now. Shout out to the first answerable reviewmellra! Also sorry for the confusion with the Prologue chapter. If you are still confused the first chapter is now the second chapter while the first chapter is a NEW chapter which is the prologue to the story. Now on to answering reviews from the last chapter.

mellra: Well to be honest I have no clue :3 I mean I could but so many out there characters would really change the plot as well as the dynamics of the story. But I do think I might insert some omake deleted scenes that may have representations of them as characters but not be them. I will say this, your idea made me think for days whether or not I should but in the end it will just be omakes.

GreyMa19:Well I can't give you all of the details I can say that Naruto will travel and be a part of the cannon as well. Would love to say more but why would you read otherwise?

Rooivalk253: Yes this is Naru/Ty

SinOfDisaster: Well for starters Naruto will leave the Fire Nation but why is the question. As to Ty-Lee well that's the reason it's called drama. Now as for training… it won't be five chapters more like 2 and for good reason you can't just have one a relationship start to bloom without time and if the story does not develop then it looks as if the author has just mashed the couple together with no rhyme or reason. The chapters also will not be designated to one thing like training. They are a mix so as not to bore you while you read and if you are worried about action have no fear because the other characters (Katara, Soka, Jet) had tragedies in their lives and you will get to see how they happened as opposed to the brief flashbacks that the series gives. As to the assassins comment…. I did not know about that, was that in the comic series parts for I have never read them. But fear not there will be a time skip or two, so don't get mad at me yet.

Gaby: Hmm well I don't like bashing stories that much so don't worry about that too much, but Zuko will take a hit here or there due to change in beliefs, stressful times, and the overall conflict he as with himself as a character through the series. As for Lemons um…. Not really my thing. There're plenty of other writers out there who have probably done this so I bet you can satisfy your need for this through others. Now before you say "But in your summary you said sexual content" this is true but it is more for plot reasons or comedy that the comment is there. Maybe if it comes to me there could be a lemon or if someone would like to write it for me then I might include it but otherwise don't get your hopes up. Sorry if this disappoints you but that is my standing on the subject.

Peter Kim:Umm what? I don't understand your review….are you possibly commenting on the wrong fic on accident because this is the avatar world not Naruto's.

dregus: Yes he is and this will be explained better in due time as to how but for now yes that is correct.

bloodyhound17: Thanks, the pairing I believe will be moderate but will advance as time goes on like most good things in life they get better and stronger with age.

Guest, coldblue: Wow sorry about missing your review from Water Chapter 1 I'm not sure how I did but I hope I can now answer your questions. Now for those of you that vote I'm sorry to say Naruto will not use swords. I just have a very good Idea for his weapon so I'm sorry to disappoint you. As you can see he is already a fire bender so there go the thoughts on what he will do for bending. Now for fighting style I haven't really had too many thoughts on this as of late so thanks for the idea. I don't know what taijutsu I should have him learn but I do know that it will involve deadly punches, because he has high energy he will focus on his speed and capitalize with strong explosive punches and kicks. Now as to the eight inner gates, I don't think that fits Naruto's style very much and for now he has no idea what chakra is or even does. So for now he is a taijutsu and bending warrior. Hope that answered any of your remaining questions

Thank you everyone for your comments and support I hope to continue to make you all happy through this story. I have changed my update time schedule to be at least a chapter posted on the 20th of each month. Why the 20th you say? Well maybe you can figure it out but for now it's my little secret. Now on with the story!

Disclaimer: see chapter 2

Ch. 3: Royal Pains & Growing Flames

The curtain flap fell to the side as the whisker marked boy and his guardian walked into the throne room. The first thing that came to Naruto's mind as he first glimpsed the dark room was- '_This is just creepy.'_The room was a majority of black and gold with the only red being the curtain they just came through. There were many gold bottomed pillars, with black square studs wrought into them before they continued in onyx stone until they reached the high vaulted ceiling. The pillars were huge with just the golden bottom alone being taller than two men on top of one another as they filled up the spacious room. Towards the back of the room was a raised black marble wall that had flames streaming from the top and licking the sides of the wall. Behind the wall was a raised palanquin-looking throne with red curtains to cover the Fire Lord if he so wished. However today the curtains were drawn together giving a shady view of a man sitting in the chair due to the shadows and fire light.

Behind the throne was the face of a giant, ornate-looking golden dragon designed as if it were breathing fire right upon the spot where the leader of the Fire Nation sat. Naruto tried to get a look at the leader's face but was surprised that the man was almost completely bathed in shadows. It must have been a trick of the light caused by the wall of flames and the glow of the dragon behind him, completely silhouetting his appearance.

Before Naruto could be considered gawking, Iroh gave him a nudge forward and they made their way towards the front of the throne room. As they walked Iroh whispered subtly, "Do as I do and follow my lead. We do not want to insult him before we even begin to speak with him."

Naruto nodded in semi understanding but still didn't understand what 'follow my lead' meant; after all he was still only eight years old.

After a minute brisk walk they had reached a spot a decent distance away from the fire wall and Iroh made to bow with a fist in front of his chest and a flat hand pointed upwards symbolizing the fire of the Fire Nation. The moment he was this Naruto followed suit quickly and did the same motions. Seeing this, the Fire Lord nodded his head in greeting and said with a voice filled with indifference, "Be seated."

Naruto was put off by the arrogant attitude that the man exuded, but none the less he quietly took a seat on one of the two cushions provided for them after the stern look Iroh gave him. Once seated, Iroh started the conversation, "It is good to see you again brother, please, do you mind telling me as to why we were summoned to see you?"

The Fire Lord's body stiffened as he said in a tone of annoyance as well as arrogance, "Iroh address me as my title dictates as I have it for a reason. The Fire Lord is not allowed to show weakness in his position and allowing you to talk to me on such familiar terms would show leniency and I would lose some power and respect." Said the shaded man as he stared down his older brother.

Naruto's brow furrowed when he heard this. What kind of brother would subjugate his own family to such lengths? Sure he was a man of power but being open with members of your own blood could never be considered a weakness, at least in Naruto's opinion. He was just about to voice his opinion when Iroh spoke up and said in a flat tone, "My apologies Ozai-sama."

Ozai's posture relaxed and he smiled though nobody could see it. He was revelling in the feeling of finally stepping out of the Dragon of the West's shadow as he had now out done his brother and taken the throne. He was now the Fire Lord and he was enjoying every second of the feeling of power and authority he held over his elder sibling.

"Apology accepted Iroh. Now the reason I have called you here is to discuss this…boy you have here." The Fire Lord spoke, saying the last part in distain as one might when the stepped in something rather unpleasant.

That was all Naruto could take before he jumped from his seat and yelled in all the dignified anger an eight year old could posses, "Hey I'm not just a boy! I have a name and its Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki! And don't you forget it!"

The room went quiet as death as its occupants looked to the Fire Lord in anticipation and worry. The Ozai took a deep breath and the flames in front of him rose a few feet before going back to their original size. The Fire Lord was, to put it simply, angry. This boy had just dared to defy him and insulted him in his throne room…and there was nothing he could do about it if he wanted to use this boy in the war. After all, it's not every day that you discover a boy with a powerful spirit trapped in their body. Iroh looked between his brother and son with evident worry on his face.

"Because this is your first time dealing with royalty I will let that insolent interruption slide," Ozai growled with anger and malice in his voice, "But should that happen again I will have you detained and flogged in front of the palace for everyone to see. Do I make myself clear?"

Naruto glared at with man with rage in his eyes and was about to yell out something else, but stopped when Iroh grabbed his arm and shook his head at him, silently telling him to be quiet. Naruto returned his gaze to Ozai and said through gritted teeth, "Yes, Fire Lord-sama."

"Good, now back on topic. The Fire Sages informed me that, Naruto has an interesting situation. They told me that a Nine Tailed Fire Fox spirit has been reincarnated as this boy here. Is that true?" The Fire Lord asked with genuine curiosity.

"That statement is partially true. The fox is not the boy but simply a spirit attached to his soul if what I heard the spirit say correctly. He cannot separate himself from the boy or vice versa the boy from him." Said the general.

"Hmm, that is interesting, is it also true that the Fox gave him the power to firebend?'

"Yes b-"

"Naruto stand up and firebend. I want to see it for myself." Interrupted the impatient ruler.

Before Naruto could get up Iroh spoke again with urgency in his tone, "Ozai-sama Naruto cannot firebend yet. We tested it and he was not able to breathe in the essence of fire through the candles yet. At first we wondered why he couldn't after he was given the power but the spirit told us in the words of the great fox spirit himself, 'Just because he has the ability to firebend does not mean he can just do so without properly being trained to do so.'"

Ozai paused when he heard this and was disappointed. He had hoped to see what the power of firebending could be when augmented with a spirits power but that was not to be right now. But the man was still excited to have his hopes confirmed at the possibility of having a new weapon in the war, a powerful bender with the abilities of a mighty spirit.

"Fine then, from this day forth you will train him Iroh. Do whatever you need to do to awaken his latent abilities, as I will want results as soon as possible, now then." The Fire Lord paused for a moment before clapping twice and the sound echoed throughout the throne room.

As soon as he clapped a young servant girl by the looks of ten came out and bowed to the Fire Lord. She had brown hair, golden eyes, and a little baby fat on her high cheek bones. The girl wore the standard red robe Naruto had seen on the servant that had lead them to the throne room, as well as a bun in her long hair. She was average height for a girl her age and her face and features exuded a sense of calm and seriousness as she said, "You called my lord?"

"Yes I want you to take Naruto here out to the gardens while my brother and I discuss some things in private, now leave us." He said as he waved the two children off.

Naruto got up reluctantly and followed the girl out of the throne room but didn't leave without giving a concerned glance at his father, who in turn gave a reassuring smile as the boy left. Once the boy was through the curtains he followed the girl who kept making curious peeks at him from behind her long bangs. After five minutes of silent stares from the girl Naruto, not being one for subtly, asked, "Why do you keep looking at me?"

The girl eeped at the fact she was caught sneaking looks and blushed while saying, "Gomen, It's just, I've never seen you here before so I was wondering who you are and where you are from. Also how is your hair that color of yellow? I have never seen hair like that before."

"Oh, well the name is Naruto Uzumaki, I'm from the Earth Kingdom I guess, and my hair has always been yellow since as long as I can remember. What about you? What is your name…?" The boy left his statement hanging hoping she would answer and she obliged.

"I'm Noriko, daughter of Mizuki the head maid of the palace servants." She said with her tone still reserved and calm.

"Nice to meet you Noriko. So you're a servant here?"

"Yes, I am, my mother says it's a great honor to be in the palace and serve the royal family, even if the servant's quarters aren't that big. So…." Noriko started to ask in a curious voice, "What's an Earth Kingdom nobleman doing here in the Fire Nation?"

"What?" asked Naruto with a confused face.

The girl became slightly confused herself asked, "You said you were from the Earth Kingdom right? Well only nobles have last names and you said your name was Naruto Uzumaki so you're a noble right?"

"No I'm not a noble; in fact I'm an orphan."

This only served to confuse Noriko even more as she asked, "Then how on earth did an orphan boy get into the Royal Palace? And why do you have a noble name if you are an orphan?"

"I don't know, maybe my parents were nobles and I was the last of the bloodline, maybe that's why no one in my family found me…." He said in a somber tone that quickly quieted the girl as she realized she had hit a soft spot on the blond. Before she knew it, however, he was back to his happy self as he nearly bounced on his feet, "But that doesn't matter anymore because the old man adopted me!"

"Who?"

"Oh sorry, I guess you would know him as the Fire Lord's brother, Iroh." Stated the blonde to clarify as he continued to walk.

"Iroh Nakashima-sama adopted you?!" The brunet stopped walking because she couldn't believe her ears. It was like a fairytale straight from the scroll; poor orphan boy with troubles is found by a royal man and is adopted becoming royalty himself. It was just too much for her to believe as she shut down to process that bit of information.

"Hello? Noriko, you in there?" The blond boy asked as he waved his hand in front of her face back and forth to get her attention again. After a minute of this the girl regained her senses and composure, apologizing while in the process.

After the lapse in thought on the young girl's part she blushed and increased her pace out of the palace so as to avoid further embarrassment. It only took them another minute before they appeared in what could only be described as a beautiful Zen garden. There was a large pond that had a family of Turtle-Ducks swimming peacefully in the clear green waters that rippled with the slightest disturbances. Encircling the pond were slabs of white rectangular stone laid into the ground. The area itself was filled with lush green grass and well kempt mangrove trees that stretched out giving some areas plentiful shade on even the hottest of days. There were paths made of the same white stone throughout the lush greenery leading to all assortments of flower patches and other tree groves with white stone benches under their shade. Next to the pond was a pagoda style canopy hut with red and gold stone tiles on its roof. Also near to the small pool of water was a group of drooping willow trees that hung low and swayed in the faintest of breezes. On the opposite side of the canopy was a pillar that had pagoda tiles on the top covering an incense urn to make prayers and offerings to the spirits.

The area was vacant and Naruto looked to the girl as she said, "Well this is the royal garden, you will have to wait here until Iroh-sama gets you after him and the Fire Lord are done with their business."

She turned to leave and Naruto asked where she was going, "I'm sorry, but I can't stay here and play. I have to go back to work again," she said with a small frown but soon brightened up as she said, "It was nice to meet you Naruto; I hope I get to see you again soon."

She walked through the ornate red doors as she went back into the palace. Naruto was left to himself in the quiet garden with only the turtle ducks quacking away in the pavilion. Naruto walked around and just quietly enjoyed the sights and smells of the garden. It was nice to have some alone time after spending a month with a loud army and then a crowded cruiser ship. Eventually Naruto found himself underneath canopy and sitting on the white stone bench as he looked at the Koi pond. He was lost in the moment as his hand slowly made its way to his pocket. His mind caught up with his actions as his hand touched a hard object wrapped in cloth.

The blond looked around to make sure the coast was clear before he pulled out the white cloth covered item. Slowly he unwrapped it until it revealed a yellow-handled three tipped kunai with strange markings on it. Naruto looked sadly at the only thing that he had left of his parents. He always wondered what kind of people they were. He thought that they must have been warriors because what parents would give a child a knife as a thing to remember them by, but now, with the new information about last names from Noriko, Naruto could only wonder now if he was the last of a noble blood line and that the knife that he held in his hand was a family heirloom meant for him because it had his name engraved on the back. Or maybe Naruto Uzumaki was his ancestor and the orphanage just gave him that name because it was on the blade. Ever since Lady Chiyo had given it to him, she was probably hoping the boy would get himself killed playing with the sharp knife, it had become Naruto's most prized and only true possession. After cutting holes in his clothes and cutting himself a few times, Naruto kept it wrapped up in his pocket with a cloth and never showed it to anyone, just keeping it his little secret. He worried that if someone saw him with the weapon that they would take it away and he would lose the only thing he had in this world.

The eight year-old brushed the warm metal with his fingertips as his eyes became lost in the strange markings once again. He never grew tired of looking at the incredible seal array on the kunai, not that he knew what it was. Whenever he was alone and bored he would pull out the implement and gaze into the depths of permanent markings trying to decipher some meaning out of them. It seemed like a good ten minutes before Naruto heard the red door open again and voices permeated over the pavilion. Before the newcomers could see Naruto quickly wrapped up the knife and put it back into his pocket.

"-Already checked the garden earlier so what makes you think this 'yellow haired' boy would be back here when we already checked it out?" came a voice that sounded as if she were humoring someone

"Because I think he was in the meeting with that old guy and your dad before, but I swear I saw him leave with one of the servant girls. By the time I got you all I lost him again." Said an excited girl with energy in her very tone.

"Well looks like you were right Ty-Lee 'cause I think I see him under the canopy." Said a boy with a little surprise in his voice.

"Finally we can stop walking." Complained a voice with a very unamused tone.

Naruto looked up and saw four children around his age walking towards him; actually make that three children, because one of the girls was cart-wheeling to where the boy sat. The fact that she was cart-wheeling to Naruto she reached him first of the group, making Naruto look at her curiously and thinking _'That looks like fun'_

"I told you he was real! I knew it!" She shouted excitedly. The girl before him had long brown hair that was put into a braid that sprouted from the top of her head. Her face was framed by bangs that she didn't put into the braid which made her brown eyes pop more. She was wearing what looked to be an extremely modified version of the Fire Nation's noble clothes as they were all pink. It would grab anyone's attention as they walked by and saw the different rosy shades. She wore short sleeve pink top that cut off a bit before her belly button and below that she wore loose fitting pink pants that cinched right above her caves and rose-colored ballet slippers on her feet. Based on her appearance it would see she was quite agile and had a bubbly personality.

"Yes Ty Lee, we get it. You weren't lying, but could you blame us when we have never seen anyone with yellow hair before?" The boy said while walking under the canopy. He wore what a fire bender in the army wore but with gold trim on the black chest piece and around the leggings. He wore black boots and under the black was red under tones through the outfit. His hair was pulled into a pony tail wrapped in red bindings and gold eyes like most of the Fire Nation.

"Look it's all well and good that he's real, but I want to know why he is in the royal palace in the first place." A girl in a similar outfit to the boy's but in red said with suspicion in her voice as she also made her way over. She walked with an aura of arrogance and power that reminder Naruto of the Fire Lord. She had her black hair in a top knot with a Fire Nation emblem pin in it while her face was encompassed by two bangs that came down from her hair and she had golden eyes like the boy. Naruto could see some resemblance the golden eyed pair had to each other but could not be certain about them being related.

Lastly another girl slowly sauntered over with an air of gloom hanging over her head like a cloud. Her pitch black hair was done up in two tight buns on either side of her head, decorated with red ribbon. She wore the usual noble clothes of the country in red and maroon except for her sleeves which seemed oversized in Naruto's opinion. Her face betrayed no emotion as her gold eyes scanned the area and merely looked at Naruto with a disinterested demeanor.

"So what's your name cutie?" Asked the girl named Ty Lee. This broke the blond out of his musings and blushing slightly he said, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, what about you guys?"

"Glad you asked!" Ty Lee back flipped into a curtsy and said, "I'm Ty Lee Itoe, This is Azula Nakashima and her brother Zuko, and then Miss Gloomy guts over there is Mai Tomahisa." She said this all with a smile on her face while Mai huffed at the title Miss Gloomy.

Naruto looked to all of them and smiled saying, "Nice to meet ya."

After an awkward pause Zuko decided to be the one to break the silence, "So what are you doing here anyways? I've never seen you before; after all I think I would remember someone with yellow hair walking around."

"I was here because the Fire Lord asked to see me and my dad."

"Then why aren't you still with him?" Interrogated Azula wondering how this boy could be that important.

"He had to discuss some things in private with him, so he sent me here till he's done."

This made Azula curious. Who was important enough to gain a private session with her father who had a son she had yet to meet. She put that thought to the side as Ty Lee started being Ty Lee again.

"How do you get your hair that color of yellow? Why is it so spikey? Are those whiskers on your face? How did you get those? Where do you come from? Can you do a hand stand? What do you-" While she was saying this she had all at once run her hand through Naruto's hair, brushed his whisker marks, and done a hand stand all within the span of a few seconds before Mai interrupted her.

"Jeez Ty Lee, let him at least answer one of your questions before asking another." Mai said wondering how they were friends with her bubble headed personality. Despite her irritated words her voice was deadpan, once again showing her apathy to the situation. Ty Lee hearing this pouted while Naruto just chuckled at the polar opposites.

"Its fine Mai, I get that a lot. Well my hair has always been yellow and spikey, the marks on my face are birthmarks, I'm from the Earth Kingdom, and yes I can do a hand stand." Then just to prove it Naruto did a hand stand even in his new robes that fell over nearly revealing his under garments. Before that could happen he flipped back over to his feet and smiled a wide smile.

The Fire Nation Four processed all that they just heard but before anyone could ask the blond anymore questions, Naruto ran out from the canopy as he saw the person he wanted to see walk through those doors.

"Hey old man!" Naruto yelled as he jumped on the portly elder general. Iroh caught the boy and gently set him down.

"Well hello there Naruto-kun! Did you enjoy your time in the garden?"

"Yeah it was nice but look who I met!" The boy grabbed the man's arm and pulled him along to the canopy. Iroh looked down and saw two children that he recognized while the other two he did not know.

"Azula-chan, Zuko-kun, is that you? It's been a long time since I've seen my niece and nephew!" He said joyfully

"Uncle Iroh, you're back!" Zuko went up and hugged his uncle while Azula just glared at him for calling her 'Azula-chan'; only her mom had ever called her that and she hated every second of it.

"And who are these two other lovely young girls?" Iroh asked courteously.

Naruto spoke first beating Ty Lee to it, "This is Ty Lee Itoe and Mai Tomahisa, I just met them a while ago." Smiled the young blonde.

"Well it is nice to meet you both, I'm sorry to cut our meeting short but Naruto and I must go. We have traveled for too long and we need our rest. I am sure we will see you soon." With that Iroh made to leave having Naruto follow.

"Good bye everybody; it was nice to meet you all"

The odd pair left the group of kids behind but it was Ty Lee who voiced what everyone was thinking, "Is it just me, or does it seem like we are going to see a lot more of him around here?"

_WATER_

Naruto stood before a villa just a small walk away from the palace. Compared to the other small towers this house was a mansion in size but not height. It was the same styling as all the other buildings in the capitol except that it expanded further than any house other than the Fire Palace or the Sage's Temple.

"This is where you live?" the blonde asked incredulously.

"This is where _we_ live Naruto." The firebending master said as he smiled at the child.

With that a smile crept up on Naruto's face and a tear threatened to fall from his eyes but he stopped it with sheer will. They both walked up to the door and Iroh quickly knocked. It was only a few short moments before a woman in her thirties came to the door dressed in the traditional red servant robes. She had a full face and grey eyes like many in the Fire Nation and her brown hair was put up into a loose top knot. She looked nice enough but had a serious face on at the moment as if she was about to dive into a battle of politics for some reason. Without really looking at who was in front of her she started to say.

"I'm sorry but Iroh-sama has yet to return; if you wish to…" She really got a look at who was in front of her and it was not what the woman expected. There was a blond haired boy before her with whiskers on his face and royal black robes with a hint of orange in them. After that quick glance her eyes roamed to the bigger elderly man next to the boy. It was then her eyes lit up with recognition and a big smile made its way on to her face. "Iroh-sama, you're back!"

"Hello Masami, as your name implies, you have only become more beautiful since I left," Iroh said making the woman blush, "How have things been since I have been gone?"

"Well other than the constant nobles always visiting to see if you were home to get a word in with you, it has been fine. But hurry come inside! There is no need for you to stand on your own door step waiting to come home. You must be tired from your travels, so come, sit, and I will make some Jasmine tea." She turned around and walked off to the kitchen while Naruto and Iroh made their way to the living room. The floor was made of wood panels while the walls looked paper thin with black mangrove silhouettes on the white walls. There was a sliding door that looked as if it went to a garden while in the middle of the room was a black glass table that went up to the middle of one's shins surrounded by four red sitting cushions. The room was simple in nature but somehow held a complex beauty.

Iroh sat down and the boy followed suit kneeling upon the cushion as they waited for the tea. Naruto looked at Iroh and it seemed like a lot was on his mind so he voiced his concerns, "Hey old man what's wrong?'

The general snapped out of his stupor and gazed at the blonde with the Fire Lord's words running though his head,

"_The only reason I'm allowing that boy even in this capitol is because of what he is, and that is the weapon we can use to win this war before Sozin's comet even arrives. So after his training is complete, and you get him fitted by the 'Mechanic' he will be going to the front lines."_

"_But he is just a child! How can you send him straight to war, he will-"_

"_I am not having a negotiation with you Iroh. My word is final; when the boy is deemed ready he will be sent to the Earth Kingdom front or on the ships combatting the Northern Water Tribe."_

Naruto looked to Iroh expectantly and Iroh looked to Naruto with a sad smile, "I'm sorry but now is not the time for me to tell you. After we have some tea we will discuss what happened in the throne room in your absence, for most of it is involved with you anyway."

Naruto was about to ask more questions but Iroh gave a gentle look of finality and so they waited in silence for the tea to arrive. When it did they simply sipped in silence each lost in their own thoughts. It was a while before they finished their tea.

"Ah, delicious as usual Masami, I missed your tea making skills while I was gone. Well Naruto since you will be staying here I better show you to your room."

Iroh got up and Naruto followed Iroh down a hallway that lead to three rooms, each with an ornate red door. Iroh went to the room on his left and opened the door. In the room was a wooden nightstand with a white candle on a golden candle stick. Next to that were a large bed with red covers, two big white pillows, and a wooden head board with two carved dragons encircling each other in an ancient dance. Other than the headboard the room was rather plain with white walls and red curtains and a closet.

"I know it's not very lavish or personalized, but I hope you like it." Smiled the older man. Naruto just paused as he realized that this was _his_room, not a group hall where everyone slept, but his own private quarters. He turned to Iroh and with a breathy voice said, "It's perfect."

"Well I'll let you get situated with your new room for a bit. We will talk in a while okay."

Naruto nodded absent mindedly as he went to the bed. He sat down and looked around just taking it in. Eventually he went to his pocket and pulled out the kunai and gazed at it. He just was over whelmed by the whole turn of events his whole life had taken in a month.

It was then he heard the heavy foot falls of Iroh coming down the hall; he quickly went to stash his knife away but stopped in the middle of doing so. What did he have to fear from Iroh knowing about his keepsake? Iroh was the most kind, just, and understanding of all the people he had ever known, so why should he be afraid to show Iroh his one possession. _'It must be because I've kept it a secret for so long…but if I can't show it to Iroh then who...? It's time I started to trust someone so why not my own father?'_

Iroh came into the room and saw the boy staring at what looked to be an odd three tipped dagger which begged the question, "Naruto-kun where did you get that blade from?"

"I've … always had it. I just kept it hidden because I didn't want anyone to take it. It's the only thing that I have that belongs to me and was my families'. I always keep it on me so I don't lose it…"

Naruto looked at the man with trepidation. It was the moment of truth as he did not know whether or not he would take it from him or let him keep it.

Iroh just looked at the boy with a sad smile and said, "It must have taken a great deal of trust to show me this and that warms my heart Naruto. It is always good to try to find ones roots and hold on to what is left of family. Even if that family has been torn apart, one should always treasure what they have left even if all that is left are memories."

Naruto leapt up and gave the big man a hug as he just held on to what was now his family. A few tears left the boy's face as he thought to himself for the first time in his life, _'I'm Home.'_

A/N: Thanks for reading as always please review as it help fuel the fires of creative writing with new ideas. Criticism is always appreciated because without it how do we improve. Flames will be used in my future plot to destroy the world, as I will be firing a laser into Jupiter creating a second sun from the gas giant and thus over heating the world into the ultimate form of global warming, and you have no idea as to how much energy that laser requires to fire (here's a hint it's more than 1.21 gigawatts). Again if you haven't heard yet I have an awesome new beta name Digitize27, you should check out his stories as they are great especially the one he is currently working on calledSage. Hope you enjoyed it, always eat your vegetables, cherish the memories of those you have lost, and always fight for what you believe in.

P.S. – The pole for Naruto's future weapon is still going on so please vote cuz I like hearing your thoughts and only 20 people have voted. It should be up on my profile as well as my music play list, so go out and vote for next chapter is when the pole is over!

Up next is Water Ch. 4: Breath of the Sun & Tears of the Ocean

As always Stay Frosty my readers

*End Transmission*


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